Taken from Wikipedia
"O Fortuna" is a medieval Latin Goliardic poem written early in the 13th century, part of the collection known as the Carmina Burana. It is a complaint about fate and Fortuna, a goddess in Roman mythology and the personification of luck
In 1935–36, "O Fortuna" was set to music by the German composer Carl Orff as a part of movement "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi" of his cantata Carmina Burana, which it opens and closes. It opens on a slower pace with thumping drums and choir that drops quickly into a whisper building slowly into a steady crescendo of drums and short string and horn notes peaking on one last long powerful note and ending abruptly. A performance takes a little over two and one-half minutes.
THE POEM
Latin English
O Fortuna O Fortune
velut luna like the moon
statu variabilis you are changeable
sember 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 et 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 more without delay
corde pulsum tangite pluck the vibriating strings
quod per sortem since Fate
sternit fortem strikes down the strong man
mecum omnes plangite! everyone weep with me!
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