Gaudeamus
igitur: a
Latin students' songGaudeamus igitur
Translation by C.S. Morrissey
Sing along to the MP3 audio file!
Musical Score: also available in Latin Via Ovid, Appendix C, p. 453
Executive summary (verse-by-verse):
1. Life's short; so let's party.
2. We're headed for heaven or hell.
3. Death is unavoidable.
4. But the academic life is best.
5. Statesmen and benefactors sustain it.
6. We can't forget to praise women.
7. But we condemn all enemies of the intellectual life.
To be sung when dining together as students:
| Latin | English |
|---|---|
|
Gaudeamus igitur Juvenes dum sumus. Post jucundam juventutem Post molestam senectutem Nos habebit humus. |
Therefore let us party While we are young! After pleasant youth After troublesome old age The earth will have us! |
| Ubi sunt qui ante nos In mundo fuere? Vadite ad superos Transite in inferos Hos si vis videre. |
Where are they who before us Have been in the world? Go up to the heavenly regions Or cross over into the hellish ones If you wish to see them! |
| Vita nostra brevis est Brevi finietur. Venit mors velociter Rapit nos atrociter Nemini parcetur. |
Our life is brief; It will be ended shortly! Death comes quickly; Cruelly it snatches us; No one will be spared. |
| Vivat academia! Vivant professores! Vivat membrum quodlibet Vivant membra quaelibet Semper sint in flore. |
Long live the university! Long live the profs! Long live any student! Long live any students whatsoever! May they always be the best! |
| Vivant et res publica et qui illam regit. Vivat nostra civitas, Maecenatum caritas Quae nos hic protegit. |
Long live the republic also And those who rule it! Long live our city, And the charity of benefactors Which protects us here! |
| Vivant omnes virgines Faciles, formosae. Vivant et mulieres Tenerae, amabiles Bonae laboriosae. |
Long live all virgins Affable and shapely! Long live mature women also, Tender and lovely, Loyal and industrious! |
| Pereat tristitia, Pereant osores. Pereat diabolus, Quivis antiburschius Atque irrisores. |
Let sadness perish! Let haters perish! Let the devil perish, Along with anybody else who is anti-scholarship And anti-intellectual! |
Three verses to add for official academic occasions:
Executive summary:
8. Look at who is here for convocation.
9. Look at those who greet them on stage.
10. The university unites us.
| Quis confluxus hodie Academicorum? E longinquo convenerunt, Protinusque successerunt In commune forum. |
Why has such a multitude of the academy Come here today? They have come together from far and wide; And now forthwith they ascend Into the academic forum! |
| Vivat nostra societas, Vivant studiosi Crescat una veritas, Floreat fraternitas Patriae prosperitas. |
Long live our faculty association! Long live those devoted to learning! May unity in the truth increase, May our brotherhood And the prosperity of our country flourish! |
| Alta Mater floreat, Quae nos educavit; Caros et commilitones, Dissitas in regiones, Sparsos, congregavit. |
May our Nourishing Mother thrive, the university who has educated us! Dear ones and comrades from scattered regions, although divided, have now congregated! |
Gaudeamus
igitur: a
Latin students' song
A student's Epicurean response (c.1287) to the Stoic Seneca's De Brevitate Vitae (On the Shortness of Life)?
Gaudeamus igitur
Tr. J. Mark Sugars 1997
|: While we're young, let us rejoice,
Singing out in gleeful tones; :|
After youth's delightful frolic,
And old age (so melancholic!),
|: Earth will cover our bones. :|
|: Life is short and all too soon
We emit our final gasp; :|
Death ere long is on our back;
Terrible is his attack;
|: None escapes his dread grasp. :|
|: Where are those who trod this globe
In the years before us? :|
They in hellish fires below,
Or in Heaven's kindly glow,
|: Swell th' eternal chorus. :|
|: Long live our academy,
Teachers whom we cherish; :|
Long live all the graduates,
And the undergraduates;
|: Ever may they flourish. :|
|: Long live all the maidens fair,
Easy-going, pretty; :|
Long live all good ladies who
Are tender and so friendly to
|: Students in this city. :|
|: Long live our Republic and
The gentlefolk who lead us; :|
May the ones who hold the purse
Be always ready to disburse
|: Funds required to feed us. :|
|: Down with sadness, down with gloom,
Down with all who hate us; :|
Down with those who criticize,
Look with envy in their eyes,
|: Scoff, mock and berate us. :|
|: Why has such a multitude
Come here during winter break? :|
Despite distance, despite weather,
They have gathered here together
|: For Philology's sake. :|
|: Long live our society,
Scholars wise and learn-ed; :|
May truth and sincerity
Nourish our fraternity
|: And our land's prosperity. :|
|: May our Alma Mater thrive,
A font of education; :|
Friends and colleagues, where'er they are,
Whether near or from afar,
|: Heed her invitation. :|
