Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi
Carl Orff
Fortune, Empress of the World
Fortune, empress of the world
O fortune
Like the moon
You are changeable,
Ever waxing
And waning;
Hateful life
Now hard
And then kind
The sharp mind
Muddles me
Poverty
And power
It melts them like ice.
Fate monstrous
And empty,
You whirling wheel,
You are malevolent,
Well-being is vain
Always may dissolve,
Shadowed
And veiled
You plague me too;
Now through the game
I bring my bare back
To your villainy.
Fate is against me
And virtue
Now, in my misery,
Is affected
And defect
Always enslaved.
So at this hour
Without delay
Touch the strings of your heart;
Because of fate
The strong man is struck down,
Everyone weep with me!
