Oh! Fortuna

Oh! Fortune

Oh! Fortuna

Oh, fortuneO fortuna
Like the moonVelut luna
You’re always changing,Statu variabilis,
Always risingSemper crescis
Or falling;Aut decrescis;
Life is a damn messVita detestabilis
Now it hardensNunc obdurat
And then it caresEt tunc curat
For the game of the mind,Ludo mentis aciem,
Poverty,Egestatem,
PowerPotestatem
Melts away like ice.Dissolvit ut glaciem.

A monstrous fateSors immanis
And empty,Et inanis,
You’re a spinning wheel,Rota tu volubilis,
A bad state,Status malus,
A false hopeVana salus
That’s always dissolving,Semper dissolubilis,
ShadedObumbrata
And veiledEt velata
You shine on me too;Michi quoque niteris;
Now through the gameNunc per ludum
Bare backDorsum nudum
I bear your wickedness.Fero tui sceleris.

A fate of healthSors salutis
And virtueEt virtutis
Is now against me,Michi nunc contraria,
It’s affectionEst affectus
And defectEt defectus
Always in servitude.Semper in angaria.
At this hourHac in hora
Without delaySine mora
Touch the pulse of my heart;Corde pulsum tangite;
What by fateQuod per sortem
Strikes the strong,Sternit fortem,
Mourn with me, everyone!Mecum omnes plangite!

I lament the wounds of fortuneFortune plango vulnera
With tearful eyesStillantibus ocellis
For what her giftsQuod sua michi munera
She takes away from me, rebellious.Subtrahit rebellis.
It’s true, what’s written,Verum est, quod legitur,
With a head full of hair,Fronte capillata,
But usually followsSed plerumque sequitur
A balding opportunity.Occasio calvata.

On fortune’s throneIn fortune solio
I sat elevated,Sederam elatus,
Crowned with the variedProsperitatis vario
Flower of prosperity;Flore coronatus;
For whatever I flourishedQuicquid enim florui
Happy and blessed,Felix et beatus,
Now from the top I’ve fallenNunc a summo corrui
Privileged glory.Gloria privatus.

The wheel of fortune turns:Fortune rota volvitur:
I descend diminished;Descendo minoratus;
Another is lifted high;Alter in altum tollitur;
Too exaltedNimis exaltatus
The king sits at the peakRex sedet in vertice
Beware of the fall!Caveat ruinam!
For under the axis we readNam sub axe legimus
Of Queen Hecuba.Hecubam reginam.