Carl Orff - 2. Fortune plango vulnera (Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi) lyrics

Latina [Coro] Fortune plango vulnera stillantibus ocellis quod sua mihi munera subtrahit rebellis. Verum est, quod legitur, fronte capillata, sed plerumque sequitur Occasio calvata. In Fortune solio sederam elatus, prosperitatis vario flore coronatus; quisquid enim florui felix et beatus, nunc a summo corrui gloria privatus. Fortune rota volvitur: descendo minoratus; alter in altum tollitur; nimis exaltatus rex sedet in vertice caveat ruinam! nam sub axe legimus Hecubam reginam. In English [Chorus] I bemoan the wounds of Fortune with weeping eyes, for the gifts she made me she perversely takes away. It is written in truth, that she has a fine head of hair, but, when it comes to seizing an opportunity, she is bald. On Fortune's throne I used to sit raised up, crowned with the many-colored flowers of prosperity; though I may have flourished, happy and blessed now I fall from the peak deprived of glory. The wheel of Fortune turns: I go down, demeaned; another is raised up; far too high up sits the king at the summit -- let him fear ruin! for under the axis is written Queen Hecuba.