Sunday, May 29, 2005

O Fortuna of Carmina Burana

O Fortuna              O Fortune,
velut luna like the moon
statu variabilis, you are changeable,
semper crescis ever waxing
aut decrescis; and waning;
vita detestabilis hateful life
nunc obdurat first oppresses
et tunc curat and then soothes
ludo mentis aciem, as fancy takes it;
egestatem, poverty
potestatem and power
dissolvit ut glaciem. it melts them like ice.

Sors immanis Fate - monstrous
et inanis, and empty,
rota tu volubilis, you whirling wheel,
status malus, you are malevolent,
vana salus well-being is vain
semper dissolubilis, and always fades to nothing,
obumbrata shadowed
et velata and veiled
michi quoque niteris; you plague me too;
nunc per ludum now through the game
dorsum nudum I bring my bare back
fero tui sceleris. to your villainy.

Sors salutis Fate is against me
et virtutis in health
michi nunc contraria, and virtue,
est affectus driven on
et defectus and weighted down,
semper in angaria. always enslaved.
Hac in hora So at this hour
sine mora without delay
corde pulsum tangite; pluck the vibrating strings;
quod per sortem since Fate
sternit fortem, strikes down the string man,
mecum omnes plangite! everyone weep with me!

4 comments:

Siren said...

Dude, I totally think of the little kid, Damien, from the Omen when I think of this song!! Freaky!

Frank said...

This song is very powerful! It's in so many movies, and everyone's heard it! It is a song of inevitability... very chilling!

lgl said...

did you translate that yourself?

Frank said...

It's not a difficult translation. In fact, it's really easy the way it's broken down, line by line.

I actually translated this song way back in high school, and when I thinking about this song a couple days ago, I went ahead and posted it.

The song already sounds really freaky! I just wanted people to know the lyrics as well... makes the song even more creepy! :-P