At the moment when I am writing this post, sunshine and rain are
alternating and there is a strong wind blowing. A glorious summer has given way
to autumn and trees are now almost bereft of their leaves, waiting for winter
to come. It reminds me of this poem from the Carmina Burana: summer has gone away and the sky is full of a cold
silence, but there is love to compensate for the coldness. Alas! Where is my
sweetheart now – she, the most beautiful maid in the world?
I haven’t found a translation on internet, but I think I have
treated all difficulties of the text. I have decided not to make may own
literal translation, as that would merely be repeating the notes. It is for someone more gifted than I am to
make a poetic translation. Who of you?
Carmina Burana 69
1.
Estas in exilium
iam peregrinatur,
leto nemus avium
cantu viduatur,
pallet viror frondium,
campus defloratur.
exaruit,
quod floruit,
quia felicem statum nemoris
vis frigoris
sinistra denudavit
et ethera silentio
turbavit,
exilio
dum aves relegavit.
aestas aestatis (f): summer (keep in mind that ae
is written as e in Mediaeval Latin)
peregrinor: to sojourn abroad, travel (just like a vagans scholasticus does!)
laetus: glad
nemus nemoris (n.): wood
viduo: to deprive (connected with English widow, cf Latin viduus `deprived
or bereft of a husband or wife’, Sanskrit vidhávā
`widow’. The word widower is late and
not found in Indo-European vocabulary. This points to the difference in social
status: maybe widowers were allowed to marry again, but widows not.)
palleo pallui: to be/turn pale
viror viroris (m.): green colour
frons frondis (f.): foliage
campus: field
exaresco exarui: to become dry, wither
vis (f.) strength, power
sinister –tra -trum: left, on the left side, sinister ( the left was seen as the
inauspicious side.)
denudo: to make naked
aether -is (m.): sky
turbo: to disturb (what a beautiful image: the power of frost disturbs
the sky with silence )
relego: to send away (subject again: vis
frigoris)
2.
Sed amorem,
qui calorem
nutrit, nulla vis frigoris valet attenuare,
sed ea reformare
studet, que corruperat brume torpor. amare
crucior,
morior
vulnere, quo glorior.
eia, si me sanare
uno vellet osculo,
que cor felici iaculo
gaudet vulnerare!
valeo valui: to be able to
attenuo: to make tenuis (thin),
lessen, diminish
calor caloris (m.): warmth, heat
studeo: to strive after, desire(in classical Latin with the dative.
Subject: amor)
sed ea reformare studet,
que corruperat brume torpor: but love desires to
bring back in form/ renew, what the sluggishness of winter has ruined (corrumpo corrupi corruptum)
amare crucior, morior vulnere, quo glorior : bitterly I suffer, I die because of
the wound in which I am victorious. (Normally the poet shoots with his felici iaculo (happy arrow (of love), but now he is hurt. Or alternatively: the poet
delights in his wound as it is made by his girlfriend.)
vellet: subject is his girlfriend
osculum: kiss
gaudeo gavisum: to enjoy, delight
3.
Lasciva, blandi risus,
omnes in se trahit visus.
labia
Veneria
tumentia
– sed castigate – dant errorem
leniorem,
dum dulcorem
instillant, favum mellis, osculando,
ut me mortalem negem aliquando.
leta frons tam nivea,
lux oculorum aurea,
cesaries subrubea,
manus vincentes lilia
me trahunt in suspiria.
rideo,
cum video
cuncta tam elegantia,
tam regia,
tam suavia,
tam dulcia.
lascivus: playful
blandi risus: charming laughs
traho traxi tractum: to draw
visus, -us (m.): glance
labia Veneria tumentia: her lovely swollen lips
castigate (adv.): chaste
errorem leniorem: a very agreeable sin
dulcor, -is (m.): sweetness
instillo: to pour in by drops
favum mellis: a honey comb of honey (apposition to dulcorem)
osculo: to kiss
frons frontis (f.): forehead
niveus: snow-white
caesaries, –es (f.): hair, locks
subrubeus: reddish
manus vincentes lilia: hands defeating lilies (i.e. whiter than lilies.)
suspirium: deep breath
regius: royal
suavis and dulcis are almost
synonyms: sweet, agreeable, pleasant
The
manuscript of the Carmina Burana.
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