|
CHORUS
O Fortuna, velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem, potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.
Sors immanis et inanis,
rota tu volubilis,
status malus, vana salus
semper dissolubilis,
obumbrata et velata
michi quoque niteris;
nunc per ludum dorsum nudum
fero tui sceleris.
Sors salutis et virtutis
michi nunc contraria
est affectus et defectus
semper in angaria.
Hac in hora sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!
CHORUS
Fortune plango vulnera
stillantibus ocellis,
quod sua michi munera
subtrahit rebellis.
Verum est, quod legitur
fronte capillata,
sed plerumque sequitur
Occasio calvata.
In Fortune solio
sederam elatus,
prosperitatis vario
flore coronatus;
quicquid enim florui
felix et beatus,
nunc a summo corrui
gloria privatus.
Fortune rota volvitur:
descendo minoratus;
alter in altum tollitur;
nimis exaltatus
rex sedet in vertice–
caveat ruinam!
nam sub axe legimus
Hecubam reginam.
SMALL CHORUS
Veris leta facies
mundo propinatur,
hiemalis acies
victa iam fugatur.
In vestitu vario
Flora principatur,
nemorum dulcisono
qui cantu celebratur. Ah
Flore fusus gremio
Phebus novo more
risum dat, hoc vario
iam stipate flore.
Zephyrus nectareo
spirans it odore;
certatim pro bravio
curramus in amore. Ah
Cytharizat cantico
dulcis Philomena,
flore rident vario
prata iam serena,
salit cetus avium
silve per amena,
chorus promit virginum
iam gaudia millena. Ah
BARITONE SOLO
Omnia sol temperat
purus et subtilis,
novo mundo reserat
faciem Aprilis;
ad amorem properat
animus herilis,
et iocundis imperat
deus puerilis.
Rerum tanta novitas
in sollemni vere
et veris auctoritas
iubet nos gaudere.
Vias prebet solitas;
et in tuo vere
fides est et probitas
tuum retinere.
Ama me fideliter!
fidem meam nota:
de corde totaliter
et ex mente tota
sum presentialiter
absens in remota,
quisquis amat taliter,
volvitur in rota.
CHORUS
Ecce gratum et optatum
ver reducit gaudia;
purpuratum floret pratum,
sol serenat omnia.
Iam iam cedant tristia!
Estas redit, nunc recedit
hyemis sevitia. Ah
Iam liquescit et decrescit
grando, nix et cetera;
bruma fugit et iam sugit
Ver Estatis ubera;
illi mens est misera,
qui nec vivit, nec lascivit
sub Estatis dextera. Ah
Gloriantur et letantur
in melle dulcedinis,
qui conantur, ut utantur
premio Cupidinis;
simus jussu Cypridis
gloriantes et letantes
pares esse Paridis. Ah
CHORUS, SMALL CHORUS
Floret silva nobilis,
floribus et foliis.
Ubi est antiquus meus amicus?
Ubi est antiquus meus amicus? Ah
Hinc equitavit.
Eia, quis me amabit? Ah
Floret silva undique,
nah mime gesellen ist mir we.
Gruonet der walt allenthalben,
wa ist min geselle alse lange? Ah
Der ist geriten hinnen.
O wi, wer soll mich minnen? Ah
SMALL CHORUS SOPRANOS WITH FULL CHORUS
Chramer, gip die varwe mir,
die min wengel roete,
damit ich die jungen man
an ir dank der minnenliebe noete.
Hm! Seht mich an, jungen man!
lat mich iu gevallen.
Minnet, tugentliche man,
minnecliche frouwen!
minne tuot iu hoch gemuot
unde lat iuch in hohen eren schouwen.
Wol dir, Werlt, daz du bist
also freudenriche!
ich will dir sin undertan
durch din liebe immer sicherliche.
ORCHESTRA, CHORUS, SMALL CHORUS
Swaz hie gat umbe
das sind alles megede,
die wellent an man
allen, allen, allen,
allen disen sumer gan! Ah! Sla!
Chume, chum geselle min,
ih enbite harte din.
Ih enbite harte din,
chume, chum geselle min.
Suzer roservarwer munt,
chum un’ mache mich gesunt.
Chum un’ mache mich gesunt,
suzer roservarwer munt.
Swaz hie gat umbe etc.
CHORUS
Were diu werlt alle min
von deme mere unze an den Rin,
des wolt ih mih darben,
des wolt ih mih darben,
daz diu chünegin von Engellant
lege an minen armen. Hei!
BARITONE SOLO
Estuans interius ira vehementi
in amaritudine loquor mee menti:
factus de materia, cinis elementi,
similis sum folio, de quo ludunt venti.
Cum sit enim proprium viro sapienti
supra petram ponere sedem fundamenti,
stultus ego comparor fluvio labenti,
sub eodem tramite nunquam permanenti.
Feror ego veluti sine nauta navis,
ut per vias aeris vaga fertur avis;
non me tenent vincula, non me tenet clavis,
quero mihi similes et adiungor pravis.
Mihi cordis gravitas res videtur gravis;
iocus est amabilis dulciorque favis;
quicquid Venus imperat, labor est suavis,
que nunquam in cordibus habitat ignavis.
Via lata gradior more iuventutis,
inplicor et vitiis immemor virtutis,
voluptatis avidus magis quam salutis,
mortuus in anima curam gero cutis.
TENOR SOLO. MEN'S CHORUS
Olim lacus colueram,
olim pulcher extiteram,
dum cignus ego fueram.
Miser! miser! modo niger
et ustus fortiter!
Girat, regirat garcifer;
me rogus urit fortiter:
propinat me nunc dapifer.
Nunc in scutella iaceo,
et volitare nequeo,
dentes, frendentes video.
BARITONE SOLO, MEN'S CHORUS
Ego sum abbas Cucaniensis
et consilium meum est cum bibulis
et in secta Decii voluntas mea est
et qui mane me quesierit in taberna,
post vesperam nudus egredietur,
et sic denudatus,
sic denudatus veste clamabit:
Wafna! Quid fecisti sors turpissima?
Wafna! Nostre vite gaudia abstulisti omnia!
Wafna! Ha ha!
MEN'S CHORUS
In taberna quando sumus,
non curamus quid sit humus,
sed ad ludum properamus,
cui semper insudamus.
Quid agatur in taberna,
ubi nummus est pincerna,
hoc est opus ut queratur,
si quid loquar, audiatur.
Quidam ludunt, quidam bibunt,
quidam indiscrete vivunt.
Sed in ludo qui morantur,
ex his quidam denudantur,
quidam ibi vestiuntur,
quidam saccis induuntur.
Ibi nullus timet mortem,
sed pro Baccho mittunt sortem.
Primo pro nummata vini,
ex hac bibunt libertini;
semel bibunt pro captivis,
post hec bibunt ter pro vivis,
quater pro Christianis cunctis,
quinquies pro fidelibus defunctis,
sexies pro sororibus vanis,
septies pro militibus silvanis.
Octies pro fratribus perversis,
nonies pro monachis dispersis,
decies pro navigantibus,
undecies pro discordantibus,
duodecies pro penitentibus,
tredecies pro iter agentibus.
Tam pro papa quam pro rege
bibunt omnes sine lege.
Bibit hera, bibit herus,
bibit miles, bibit clerus,
bibit ille, bibit illa,
bibit servus cum ancilla,
bibit velox, bibit piger,
bibit albus, bibit niger,
bibit constans, bibit vagus,
bibit rudis, bibit magus.
Bibit pauper et egrotus,
bibit exul et ignotus,
bibit puer, bibit canus,
bibit presul et decanus,
bibit soror, bibit frater,
bibit anus, bibit mater,
bibit ista, bibit ille,
bibunt centum, bibunt mille.
Parem sexcente nummate
durant, cum immoderate
bibunt omnes sine meta,
quamvis bibant mente leta,
sic nos rodunt omnes gentes,
et sic erimus egentes.
Qui nos rodunt confundantur
et cum iustis non scribantur. Io!
BOYS' CHORUS, SOPRANO SOLO
Amor volat undique;
captus est libidine.
Juvenes, iuvencule
coniunguntur merito.
Siqua sine socio,
caret omni gaudio;
tenet noctis infima sub intimo
cordis in custodia:
fit res amarissima.
BARITONE SOLO
Dies, nox et omnia
michi sunt contraria,
virginum colloquia
me fay planszer,
oy suvenz suspirer,
plu me fay temer.
O sodales, ludite,
vos qui scitis dicite,
michi mesto parcite,
grand ey dolur,
attamen consulite
per voster honur.
Tua pulchra facies,
me fay planszer milies,
pectus habet glacies.
A remender
statim vivus fierem
per un baser.
SOPRANO SOLO
Stetit paella
rufa tunica;
si quis eam tetigit,
tunica crepuit. Eia!
Stetit puella
tamquam rosula;
facie splenduit,
os eius floruit. Eia!
BARITONE SOLO, MEN'S CHORUS, WOMEN'S CHORUS
Circa mea pectora
multa sunt suspiria
de tua pulchritudine,
que me ledunt misere. Ah
Manda liet, manda liet,
min geselle chomet niet!
Manda liet, manda liet,
min geselle chomet niet!
Manda liet, manda liet,
min geselle chomet niet!
Min geselle, min geselle,
min geselle chomet niet!
Min geselle, min geselle,
min geselle chomet niet,
niet, niet, niet, niet!
Tui lucent oculi
sicut solis radii,
sicut splendor fulguris
lucem donans tenebris. Ah
Vellet deus, vellent dii
quod mente proposui:
ut eius virginea
reserassem vincula. Ah
MEN'S CHORUS
Si puer cum puellula
moraretur in cellula,
Felix coniunctio.
Amore suscrescente,
pariter e medio
avulso procul tedio,
fit ludus ineffabilis
membris, lacertis, labiis,
si puer cum puellula
moraretur in cellula,
Felix coniunctio.
DOUBLE CHORUS
Veni, veni, venias,
ne me mori facias,
hyrca, hyrce,
nazaza, trillirivos!
Pulchra tibi facies, nazaza
oculorum acies, nazaza
capillorum series, nazaza
o quam clara species! nazaza
Rosa rubicundior, nazaza
lilio candidior, nazaza
omnibus formosior, nazaza
semper in te glorior! ah nazaza!
SOPRANO SOLO
In trutina mentis dubia
fluctuant contraria
lascivus amor et pudicitia.
Sed eligo quod video,
collum iugo predeo;
ad iugum tamen suave, suave transeo.
BARITONE SOLO, SOPRANO SOLO, CHORUS, MEN'S CHORUS, WOMEN'S CHORUS, BOY's CHORUS
Tempus est iocundum,
o, o virgines
modo congaudete
vos, vos iuvenes.
Oh, oh, oh, totus floreo,
iam amore virginali,
totus ardeo,
novus, novus, novus amor est,
quo pereo.
Mea me confortat
pro, promissio,
mea me deportat
ne, negatio.
Tempore brumali
vir, vir patiens,
animo vernali
la, lasciviens.
Mea mecum ludit
vir, virginitas,
mea me detrudit
sim, simplicitas.
Veni, domicella,
cum, cum gaudio,
veni, veni, pulchra,
iam, iam pereo.
SOPRANO SOLO
Dulcissime, ah
totam tibi subdo me!
CHORUS
Ave, formosissima,
gemma pretiosa,
ave, decus virginum,
virgo gloriosa,
ave, mundi luminar,
ave, mundi rosa,
Blanziflor et Helena,
Blanziflor et Helena,
Venus, Venus, Venus generosa!
CHORUS
O Fortuna, velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis
nunc obdurat et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem, potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.
Sors immanis et inanis,
rota tu volubilis,
status malus, vana salus
semper dissolubilis,
obumbrata et velata
michi quoque niteris;
nunc per ludum dorsum nudum
fero tui sceleris.
Sors salutis et virtutis
michi nunc contraria
est affectus et defectus
semper in angaria.
Hac in hora sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!
|
CHORUS
Empress Fortune! Temptress Fortune!
Fickle as the changing moon!
You wax and wane, the boon and bane
who brings success and ruin.
As you so choose, we win or lose
and we are done or undone.
The wheel revolves and wealth dissolves
like ice in the summer sun.
Oh cruel Fate, the life I hate
is but what you put in it!
At your caprice my luck will cease
and run out in a minute.
Veiled and obscure, your ends unsure,
you do to me what you please.
My back exposed to all your blows,
I roll the dice on my knees.
You rob my wealth, my strength, and health,
and then restore them to me.
On what pretext will your whims next
send pangs of sorrow through me?
No one’s exempt from your contempt,
let all join in as I cry,
and curse and mourn that we were born
to be plagued until we die!
CHORUS
The blows that Fortune sends my way
fill my eyes with sorrow;
the gifts she lets me have today
will be gone tomorrow.
Gather rosebuds while ye may,
all that you endeavor
soon will crumble and decay:
nothing lasts forever.
When Fortune smiled, she gave to me
wealth and fame and power.
Prosperity encircled me
like a wreath of flowers.
But good Fortune doesn’t last;
fame is transitory.
My prosperity is past;
fleeting was my glory.
The wheel of Fortune whirls in space:
rank riffraff reach the summit;
distinguished leaders fall from grace
as their fortunes plummet.
King, beware, lest your gold crown
tarnish and prove hollow.
Fortune’s wheel can bring kings down;
when it turns, you’ll follow.
SMALL CHORUS
Smiling spring appears,
quickening the earth.
Seeds within her dark womb stir,
waking at the world’s rebirth.
Daisies pied and violets blue,
lady’s smocks all silver white,
clothe the fields and forests anew;
caroling birds fill the woods with delight. Ah
In the meadows, Flora is queen,
flowers in her hair,
bathed in sunlight, warmed by rain,
kissed by fragrant air.
Phoebus, laughing, leaves the sky,
golden beams streaming down.
Straight to Flora’s lap he flies;
thousands of flowers burst forth from the ground. Ah
Half-concealed by morning mist,
half-revealed by shafts of light,
lovers share a world apart,
unaware of day or night.
Hear the endless melody
echoing through the grove;
swallows swoop from tree to tree
adding their song to the chorus of love. Ah
BARITONE SOLO
Soothing is the sun’s caress
on the budding maple,
freeing April in the hearts
of the waiting people;
love unsettles placid squires
seeking youthful passion,
adolescent Cupid rules
pleasure and sensation.
Now a new world is revealed:
each unfolding flower
calls on us to celebrate
spring’s creative power;
but among the new delights,
old ones are discovered.
Honor what has long been yours:
hold fast to your lover.
Always love me faithfully,
as I’ve always loved you!
Even when I’m far away,
I am close beside you.
You have both my heart and soul,
my complete devotion;
those who love as I love you
are the toys of Fortune.
CHORUS
Spring is coming, bees are humming,
birds are singing in the trees.
Colors blaze, the sun’s warm rays light
up the new-grown grass and leaves.
Let the whole world shout and sing!
Smell the clover, winter’s over;
summer follows after spring. Ah
Hear the dripping water skipping,
waking from its icy rest.
No more snowing, sap is flowing,
spring sucks milk from summer’s breast.
He’s a wretch who would deny
life renewing, lovers wooing
underneath the summer sky. Ah
Let us glory as the story
of young love unfolds once more:
Cupid’s dart will pierce your heart and
leave a wound you can’t ignore.
Venus is the reason why
Paris fell in with fair Helen;
Let’s be like them, you and I. Ah
CHORUS, SMALL CHORUS
Forest bursting green everywhere;
summer is near, yet he’s not here.
I long for my lover. Did he desert me?
Has he found another? How could he hurt me? Ah
Gone, rode off at a gallop.
Aya, now who will love me? Ah
Forest bursting green everywhere
summer is near, yet he’s not here.
I long for my lover. Did he desert me?
Has he found another? How could he hurt me? Ah
Gone, rode off at a gallop.
Aya, now who will love me? Ah
SMALL CHORUS SOPRANOS WITH FULL CHORUS
Salesman, sell me bright red rouge
to make my cheeks rosy.
Help me catch a nice young man
and I will thank you when my love and I are cozy.
Hm! Look, young man, here I am;
let me make you happy!
Love me, young man; I’ll love you
without inhibitions.
Love will make us spirited and bold;
love will give us friendly dispositions.
Brave new world, full of joy,
full of song and laughter,
I will live in harmony
with your loving nature now and ever after.
ORCHESTRA, CHORUS, SMALL CHORUS
Six maidens in a circle,
they all of them are single girls,
they hunger for a man,
longing, aching, burning
as the summer lingers on. Ah! Sla!
Come, come, come keep me company,
I beg you, please be kind to me.
I beg you, please be kind to me,
come, come, come keep me company.
Red lips have me under a spell.
Come, kiss me, kiss me and make me well.
Come, kiss me, kiss me and make me well.
Red lips have me under a spell.
Six maidens in a circle, etc.
CHORUS
If the whole wide world were mine,
from the ocean to the Rhine,
I would forsake all its village and farms
to have the Queen of England in my arms,
if Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine
would lie here in my own arms. Hi!
BARITONE SOLO
Anger kept too long confined sets my insides burning.
Bitterly, I speak my mind, my existence spurning:
I am only flesh and blood, into dust returning,
wind-blown as a fallen leaf, living yet not learning.
Wise men never build on sand, but on rock enduring;
I am one of those who find softness more alluring.
I’m a fool, and like a stream sliding to the ocean,
nothing checks my winding course, nothing slows my motion.
Like a ship adrift at sea, bobbing on the water,
like a bird who sails the breeze when a current’s caught her,
I am coasting on and on, shackles cannot bind me,
seeking sinners like myself; they know where to find me.
What’s this pounding in my breast? Heavy hearts are stupid.
Sweet as honey is good sport; quick hearts play with Cupid.
What does Venus now command? I’m her humble servant.
I fulfill her least demand with my ardor fervent.
Not for me the narrow path; virtue’s not my calling.
Young men cut a wider swath; vice is more enthralling.
I’m prepared to pay the price, let my pleasures increase.
My soul is small sacrifice; my skin is still in one piece.
TENOR SOLO. MEN'S CHORUS
This is a swan song from the beak
of a white swan once fat and sleek;
I paddled lakes, now I’m up the creek.
Lips smack! I’m stuck on the meat rack,
well stuffed and roasted black!
Over and over on the spit,
fierce flames leap at me from the pit.
“Soup’s on, it’s roast swan, your favorite.”
Flat on my back upon the plate,
I can’t fly from encroaching fate.
I see sharp teeth, soon they’ll masticate.
BARITONE SOLO, MEN'S CHORUS
I am the Abbot of Glutton’s Paradise
and my worthy counselors are inebriates,
and I preach the precepts of the god of gamblers,
and whoever tries to best me in a dice game
won’t leave the tavern till I’ve fleeced him,
and he goes out naked,
stripped naked, loudly to bemoan his fate:
Vofna! Damned, deceitful fate, what have you done?
Vofna! Life is endless misery since you stole my pants from me!
Vofna! Ha ha!
MEN'S CHORUS
No one in the tavern drinking
gives a damn the world is sinking:
put your bet down, pick your glass up,
here’s the action you can’t pass up.
You don’t need a reservation,
money is your invitation.
You don’t know what you’ve been missing,
no you don’t, shut up and listen!
Here’s good gambling, here’s good liquor,
here the thrills of life come quicker:
lost your shirt, but still you stay in,
hit the jackpot, keep on playing,
lose again, you’re stripped completely,
wear a barrel drunk dry neatly.
Thumb your nose at death while raucous
music blares our prayer to Bacchus.
Roll for wine, the loser pays up.
Toast his health with glasses raised up.
Two more drinks to captive slaves, then
three to life and four to saved men
who accept the Christian Host, then
five to those who’ve given up the ghost, then
six to sisters with newly virgin blushes;
seven more for the soldiers in the bushes.
Eight to friars of a mind to roister,
nine to monks who are out of the cloister.
Ten to feuders who flap their lips,
eleven more to the men on ships,
then twelve to souls in a churchman’s grip,
thirteen to going on an urgent trip.
Up the Pope and down the King; come
on, you drunkards, drink to drinking!
Drinking mistress, drinking master,
drinking pimp and drinking pastor,
drinking soldiers, drinking sailors,
drinking tinkers, drinking tailors,
drinking students and professors,
drinking clerks and tax assessors,
drinking wags and wagon drivers,
drinking celibates and swivers.
Drinking residents and tourists,
drinking presidents and jurists,
drinking fathers, drinking mothers,
sisters drinking with their brothers,
city slickers, country cousins,
drinkers by the tens of dozens,
black and white and yellow faces,
drinkers from a thousand places.
We will drink up our last penny;
there won’t be a drop too many.
We will drink as long as we’re able,
drink ourselves right under the table.
Damn all the hypocrites who surround us,
doggedly hound us, try to confound us:
cut those big shots down to pint-size;
put them in the books as bad guys. Yo!
BOYS' CHORUS, SOPRANO SOLO
Love is in the still night air;
passion prods him here and there.
Young men and their maidens fair
are conjoined in happy love.
When a woman languishes,
then she knows what anguish is.
Deep inside her heart she sighs, “I am alone!
Through the night, unloved, she cries.
Bitter tears drop from her eyes.
BARITONE SOLO
Day and night I’m languishing;
I’m opposed by everything;
maidens, idly chattering,
start me crying.
I breathe a heavy sigh
and I am afraid.
Play, my friends, belie my woe.
Who can tell me what I need to know?
My hopes died some time ago;
I have suffered too long!
Spare me any further grief!
What am I to do?
April lives within your face;
in your breast December has its place;
you deny me your embrace.
I lie lifeless!
Bring me back to life again
with just one kiss.
SOPRANO SOLO
A girl was standing there;
she wore a new red dress,
and at the least caress
it rustled restlessly. Aya!
A girl was standing there
like a trembling rose;
her face was aglow,
her lips half parted for a kiss. Aya!
BARITONE SOLO, MEN'S CHORUS, WOMEN'S CHORUS
There’s an aching in my heart;
love is tearing me apart!
Your fierce beauty burns through me,
help me in my misery! Ah
I repeat, I repeat,
this is where he said we’d meet.
I repeat, I repeat,
this is where he said we’d meet.
We repeat, we repeat,
this is where he said they’d meet.
How he kissed me, said he missed me,
now he's left me in the street.
How he kissed me, said he missed me,
oh, my boyfriend is a cheat,
cheat, cheat, cheat, cheat!
How the poets rhapsodize
on the splendor of your eyes:
stars of heaven shining bright,
flashing lightning in the night! Ah
May the gods be well disposed
towards the plan I now propose:
I would set the maiden free
from her dull virginity! Ah
MEN'S CHORUS
When boy and girl play bride and groom
together in a little room:
Great their ecstasy!
Their love increases steadily,
rising up between them both;
it courses through them readily.
They fondle with their fingertips,
their arms and legs and tongues and lips;
when boy and girl play bride and groom
together in a little room:
Great their ecstasy!
DOUBLE CHORUS
Let me, let me, let me come!
If you make me wait I’ll die!
Billy! Nanny!
La la la! Ixtralicious!
Beautiful beyond compare, nazaza
your complexion is so fair, nazaza
eyes so knowingly aware, nazaza
golden waves of silken hair! nazaza
Roses have no red so bright, nazaza
lilies never seemed so white, nazaza
all else pales before your light, nazaza
glory is in you tonight! ah nazaza!
SOPRANO SOLO
My mind is wavering uncertainly.
What will the decision be:
licentious love, or modest chastity?
The decision is very clear to me:
from love’s yoke I’m no longer free.
The yoke is sweet; I submit most willingly.
BARITONE SOLO, SOPRANO SOLO, CHORUS, MEN'S CHORUS, WOMEN'S CHORUS, BOY's CHORUS
Spring is for rejoicing;
now the buds appear.
Let us seize the moment,
for warm weather's here.
Oh, oh, oh, I am all aglow.
For a new love, my first true love,
I would die I know.
My heart skips a beat each time we meet:
I love her so!
Happiness infects me
when I answer yes;
saying no dejects me,
so I acquiesce.
When it snows and freezes,
then we’re quiet men.
But the springtime breezes
stir our lust again.
I am young and skittish,
quite an innocent,
open to suggestions,
but I’m ignorant.
Oh, my little darling,
how you do excite.
Come, my pretty playmate,
come, you’re my delight.
SOPRANO SOLO
My own true love, ah,
all I have I give to you!
CHORUS
Hail, thou light of all mankind,
hail, thou rose emerging,
hail, thou gem of maidenhood,
hail, thou glorious virgin!
You are beauty unalloyed
and we kneel before you:
you are Helen come from Troy,
you the avatar of joy,
Venus, Venus, Venus, we adore you!
CHORUS
Empress Fortune! Temptress Fortune!
Fickle as the changing moon!
You wax and wane, the boon and bane
who brings success and ruin.
As you so choose, we win or lose
and we are done or undone.
The wheel revolves and wealth dissolves
like ice in the summer sun.
Oh cruel Fate, the life I hate
is but what you put in it!
At your caprice my luck will cease
and run out in a minute.
Veiled and obscure, your ends unsure,
you do to me what you please.
My back exposed to all your blows,
I roll the dice on my knees.
You rob my wealth, my strength, and health,
and then restore them to me.
On what pretext will your whims next
send pangs of sorrow through me?
No one’s exempt from your contempt,
let all join in as I cry,
and curse and mourn that we were born
to be plagued until we die!
|
Back