Spring 2000 Program Texts and Translations

Songs of the New Pythagoras/Laments of the Queen of Carthage

Saluto te sancta virgo Maria

Saluto te sancta virgo Maria, domina coelorum et regina,
ea salutatione qua te salutavit Gabriel angelus dicens:
Ave Maria, gratia plena, dominus tecum,
benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui.

Rogo te ergo per illud gaudium, quod habuisti in illa hora,
qua concepisti dominum nostrum Jesum Christum,
ut laetifices cor meum in hora defunctionis meae,
et subvenias mihi tam in corpore quam in anima,
et non dimittas me perdi propter nimia peccata,
sed subvenias mihi in omnibus neccesitatibus meis, amen.


    I greet you, Holy Virgin Mary, mistress of heaven and queen,
    with the same greeting by which the angel Gabriel greeted you, saying,
    Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.
    Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
    
    Therefore I ask you, through that joy which you had 
    in that hour you received our Lord Jesus Christ,
    that you gladden my heart in the hour of my death,
    and that you assist me as much in body as in spirit,
    and that you not send me away to destruction on account of my too many sins,
    but that you assist me in all that I need, amen.

                    -- Translated by Michael B. Myer


Ave regina caelorum

Ave regina caelorum
Mater regis angelorum
O Maria flos virginum
Velut rosa vel lilium
Funde preces ad filium
Pro salute fidelium
Ave Maria Jesu digna
Ave dulcis et benigna
Ave plena gratia
Ave virgo de qua nasci
Et de cujus lacte pasci
Rex caelorum voluit
Ave mundi spes mea
Ave mitis, ave pia
Ave plena gratia
Ave pia mater dei
Memor esto semper mei
In omni tristitia.
Amen.


    Hail, Queen of heaven,
    Mother of the king of angels.
    O Mary, flower of virgins,
    like a rose or lily,
    pour out prayers to your Son
    for the salvation of the faithful.

    Hail, Mary, worthy of Jesus,
    Hail, sweet and kind one,
    Hail, full of grace,
    Hail, virgin from whom the King of Heaven
    desired to be born and by whose milk 
    He desired to be nourished.

    Hail, my hope of the world,
    Hail, tender one, hail, devoted one,
    Hail, full of grace,
    Hail, devoted Mother of God.
    Remember me always
    in every sadness.
    Amen.

                    -- Translated by Michael B. Myer



Benedicta es coelorum regina 
(sequence motet, text ?14th century)

Benedicta es coelorum regina,
Et mundi totius domina,
Et aegris medicina.
Tu praeclara maris stella vocaris,
Quae solem justitiae paris,
A quo illuminaris.
Te deus pater,
Ut dei mater
Fieres et ipse frates,
Cujus eras filia.
Sanctificavit,
Sanctam servavit,
Et mittens sic salutavit:
Ave, plena gratia.

Per illud Ave prolatum,
Et tuum responsum gratum
Est ex te verbum incarnatum,
Quo salvantur omnia.
Nunc mater exora natum,
Ut nostrum tollat reatum,
Et regnum det nobis paratum,
In coelesti patria, amen.

    Blessed are you, queen of the heavens,
    and lady of the whole world,
    and healer of the sick.
    You are called the star of the sea,
    you who gave birth to the sun of righteousness,
    by which you are made to shine.
    God the Father sanctified you,
    that you might become the mother of God;
    likewise did your brother himself,
    of whom you were the daughter.
    He sanctified you,
    he protected you, his holy one,
    and sending you forth, greeted you thus:
    Hail, full of grace.

    Through that "Ave" thus proclaimed,
    and through your gracious reply,
    was the word through you made flesh,
    by whom all things are saved.
    Now, mother, pray to your son,
    that he may bear our guilt
    and give us the kingdon prepared for us
    in the celestial land. Amen


Tota pulchra es amica mea (Gombert)
(Song of Songs 4:7,8)

Tota pulchra es amica mea, columba mea, tota pulchra es, et macula non est
in te. Veni de Libano, veni coronaberis.
Quam pulchrae sunt mammae tuae, sponsa mea, dulciora sunt ubera tua vino,
et odor oris tui super omnia aromata. Vulnerasti cor meum in oculorum tuum.

    Thou art all fair, my love, my dove, thou art all fair, and there is no
    spot in thee. Come from Lebanon, come and be crowned.
    How beautiful are thy breasts, my spouse, thy breasts are sweeter than
    wine, and the scent of thy mouth above all perfumes. Thou hast wounded my
    heart in one glance from your eyes..


Tota pulchra es amica mea (Willaert)
(compiled from various phrases in the Song of Songs)

Tota pulchra es amica mea, columba mea, tota pulchra es, et macula non est
in te. Veni de Libano, veni coronaberis. Quam pulchrae sunt mammae tuae,
sponsa mea, dulciora sunt ubera tua vino, et odor oris tui super omnia
aromata. Vulnerasti cor meum in uno oculorum tuorum.

    Thou art all fair, my love, my dove, thou art all fair, and there is no
    spot in thee. Come from Lebanon, come and be crowned. How beautiful are thy
    breasts, my spouse, thy breasts are sweeter than wine, and the scent of thy
    mouth above all perfumes. Thou hast wounded my heart with one of thine eyes.


Dulces exuviae   (Aeneid IV:651-8)

Dulces exuviae, dum fata Deusque sinebat,
Accipite hanc animam meque his exolvite curis.
Vixi et quem dederat cursum Fortuna peregi
Et nunc magna mei sub terras ibit imago.
Urbem praeclaram statui, mea moenia vidi,
Ulta virum poenas inimico a fratre recepi:
Felix, heu nimium felix, si litora tantum
Nunquam Dardaniae tetigissent nostra carinae.

    O relics* once dear, while Fate and God allowed,
    Take this spirit and release me from my woes!
    I have lived, I have finished the course that Fortune gave,
    And now in majesty my shade shall pass beneath the earth.
    A noble city have I built; I have seen my own walls;
    Avenging my husband, I have punished my brother and foe:
    Happy, ah! too happy, had but the Dardan keels
    Never touched our shores!

*i.e. Aeneas' vestments, sword, bed, and image, now heaped on the pyre


Fama, malum (Aeneid IV:174-7)

Fama, malum qua non aliud velocius ullum:
mobilitate viget virisque adquirit eundo,
parva metu primo, mox sese attollit in auras
ingrediturque solo et caput inter nubila condit.

    Rumor, of all evils the swiftest:
    speed lends her strength, and she wins vigor as she goes;
    small at first through fear, soon she mounts up to heaven
    and walks the ground with head hidden in the clouds.



At trepida et coeptis immanibus effera Dido  (Aeneid IV:642-654)

At trepida et coeptis immanibus effera Dido,
sanguineam volvens aciem, maculisque trementis
interfusa genas, et pallida morte futura,
interiora domus inrumpit limina, et altos
conscendit furibunda rogos, ensemque recludit
Dardanium, non hos quaesitum munus in usus.
Hic, postquam Iliacas vestis notumque cubile
conspexit, paulum lacrimis et mente morata
incubuitque toro dixitque novissima verba:
Dulces exuviae, dum fata Deusque sinebat,
Accipite hanc animam meque his exolvite curis.
Vixi et quem dederat cursum Fortuna peregi
Et nunc magna mei sub terras ibit imago.

    But Dido, trembling and frenzied with her awful purpose,
    rolling her bloodshot eyes, her quivering cheeks flecked
    with burning spots, and pale at the coming of death,
    bursts into the inner courts of the house, mounts
    in madness the high pyre and unsheathes
    the Dardan sword, a gift besought for no such end!
    Then, as she saw the Trojan garb and the familiar bed,
    pausing awhile in tearful thought
    she threw herself on the couch and spoke her last words:
    O relics once dear, while Fate and God allowed,
    Take this spirit and release me from my woes!
    I have lived, I have finished the course that Fortune gave,
    And now in majesty my shade shall pass beneath the earth.




Texts from Vergil's Aeneid, Translated by  H. Rushton Fairclough,
from the Loeb Classical Library edition, Harvard University Press.