No. 47 The Students’ Wine-Bout
Ho, all ye jovial brotherhood,
Quos sitis vexat plurima,
I know a host whose wits are good,
Quod vina spectat optima.
His wine he blends not with the juice
E puteo qui sumitur;
Each kind its virtue doth produce
E botris ut exprimitur.
Host, bring us forth good wine and strong,
In cella quod est optimum!
We brethren will our sport prolong
Ad noctis usque terminum.
Whoso to snarl or bite is fain,
Ut canes decet rabidos,
Outside our circle may remain,
Ad porcos eat sordidos,
Hurrah! my lads, we’ll merry make!
Levate sursum pocula!
God’s blessing on all wine we take,
In sempiterna saecula!
Two lyrics of distinguished excellence, which still hold their place in the Commersbuch, cannot claim certain antiquity in their present form. They are not included in the Carmina Burana; yet their style is so characteristic of the Archipoeta, that I believe we may credit him with at least a share in their composition. The first starts with an allusion to the Horatian tempus edax rerum.