TRIPLUM

You girls, why do you wonder

that I have thought it fitting

to wed a girl who is peerless

beyond the rest? -

since I have married one

as lovable as can be.

​

She is beautiful in looks.

gracious in manner.

and excellent in deed.

Any other girl among you is worthless.

far too rude in forwardness.

contemptuous of excellence.

​

She is light, you are clouds.

she a swift eagle.

you, creeping serpents.

She reigns beyond the skies

while you languish, deprived.

in a wretched valley.

​

This royal maiden

is a sweet mistress.

and my devoted bride.

I am a king - she is my queen!

Why do I tell all this?

I who know everything

have chosen a lady of worth.

one who is as a rose surpassing thorns.

​

Arise, then, all of you

(as time slips past

and death pursues us) -

serve this lady, call upon her!

If you neglect this.

you will never see

the glory for which you long -

ah, come quickly now!

MOTETUS

"Most beloved beauty of a girl.

graced by the radiance of your body.

you have made the depths of my heart

serene to their very centre, with the sweetest wound."

​

"Raining down the spirit of love.

spirit that knows no way out of my breast.

you, most beloved, have made an implement

to strike me with a wound like your own."

​

"O queen, to be entwined

in your embrace, your breast..."

​

​

"O king of kings, let my eyes meet yours.

let our lips meet in a kiss.

and breathe into my mouth the word

through which my body may become godlike."

TENOR

Rejoice, o glorious Virgin!