[Song a Day] Mediæval Bæbes - Erthe Upon Erthe

[justira]

Part of the Song a Day Project!

So I really love historical music. Once, while I was at college, historian-musicians came to talk to us about music in Ancient Greece. They crafted reconstructions of ancient instruments and tried to recreate tunes that they found described or even transcribed in ancient texts. It was really freaking cool. The Mediæval Bæbes don't really do that — they take historical texts and poems and set them to music of their own composition, sometimes using period-appropriate instruments and sometimes not. But I still really love the historical flavour.

The lyrics to this song are in Middle English, ~15th century or maybe a little before (with a bit of Latin for the chorus). This was before the Great Vowel Shift, which forms one of the biggest differences between Middle and Modern English (though of course there's also been a bit of morphological and syntactic change since then). By the way, did you know that my degree is in linguistics? Social linguistics, not historical linguistics, but man I LOVED that course.

So I think all of this is fascinating, and I think it's really neat to see the connection between this and our modern variants of English — how different they sound and yet how easily you can show the common root (haha, including for the Latin). So I'm doing something fun with the lyrics today — I'm providing the original Middle English, a translation into Modern English, and also a kind of middle ground version that tries to preserve the structure and word-use of the original. (For those of you out there who would get the joke: Kind of like Lattimore and Fagles versions.)

Oh by the way, the music is pretty too. The meaning's actually pretty interesting, too — tell me your interpretation! There are some interesting comments on this other upload, about halfway down the page.

Youtube Link: Mediæval Bæbes - Erthe Upon Erthe

Remember, O man, that you are ashes
And unto ashes you will return

Again, this is not my specialty, but I do my best. I somewhat ignore shifts in meaning of certain words for the "middle ground" version, unless it would be completely opaque to modern readers (e.g. "swinke"? what the hell does that mean? It means physical labour or toil).

Hat tips/resources: A Middle-English dictionary (book), Middle English Dictionary (site), and the Lyrics Wiki entry for the original-text transcription, the Latin translation, and, though I did make an effort to do entirely my own translation of the Middle English, our phrasings often ended up similar anyway. You should check out the take over there — they've taken more liberties in translating cultural references than I feel comfortable doing, as this is just not my area.

The grammatical structure of the transitional version is a bit finnicky, but hopefully more or less parsable, especially if you're familiar with Shakespeare or Ivalice talk =d

Try listening to the song while looking at the transitional version =D Is the Great Vowel Shift cool or what?

Corrections welcome! These are just my best guesses =)

Mediæval Bæbes - Erthe Upon Erthe

Middle English + Latin Erthe out of erthe is wonderly wroghte Erthe hase geten one erthe a dignite of noghte Erthe upon erthe hase sett alle his thoghte How that erthe upon erthe may be heghe broghte Erthe upon erthe wolde be a kinge Bot how erthe to erthe shall thinkes he no thinge When erthe bredes erthe and his rentes home bringe Thane shall erthe of erthe have full harde parting Memento, homo, quad cinis es Et in cenerem revereteris Erthe upon erthe winnes castells and towrres Thane sayse erthe unto erthe, "This es al ourres" When erthe upon erthe has bigged up his barres Thane shall erthe for erthe suffere sharpe scowrres Memento, homo, quad cinis es Et in cenerem revereteris Erthe goes upon erthe as molde upon molde He that goes upon erthe, gleterande as golde Like erthe never more go to erthe sholde And yitt shall erthe unto erthe ga rathere than he wolde Whye erthe lurves erthe, wondere me thinke Or why erthe for erthe sholde other swete or swinke For when erthe upon erthe has broughte within brinke Thane shall erthe of erthe have a foul stinke Memento, homo, quad cinis es Et in cenerem revereteris Memento, homo, quad cinis es Et in cenerem revereteris

Transitional Earth out of earth has been wondrously wrought Earth has gotten on earth dignity out of naught Earth-upon-earth has set all his thoughts On how that earth upon earth may be higher brought Earth, upon earth, would be a king But how on earth earth shall do this, he can think of nothing When earth breeds earth and his reward home brings Then shall earth of earth have a hard parting Remember, man, that you are cinders And into cinders you will revert Earth, upon earth, wins castles and towers Then says earth unto earth, "This is all ours" When earth, upon earth, has made bigger his barriers Then shall earth from earth suffer sharp scourings Remember, man, that you are cinders And into cinders you will revert Earth goes upon earth as mold upon mold He that goes upon earth, glittering as gold Like earth never more go to earth should And yet shall earth unto earth go, rather than he would Why earth loves earth, I wonder, I think Or why earth for earth should either sweat or toil For when earth upon earth is brought within the brink Then shall earth, in earth, have a foul stink Remember, man, that you are cinders And into cinders you will revert Remember, man, that you are cinders And into cinders you will revert

Modern Earth has been miraculously created out of earth Earth has risen high on earth out of nothing This earth, upon earth, has turned all his thoughts To how that earth could be brought even higher over earth Earth wants to be a king on earth But earth can't think of how on earth he shall do this When earth breeds earth and brings his reward home Then earth will have to bid earth a hard farewell Remember, O man, that you are ashes And unto ashes you will return Earth conquers castles and towers on earth Then says to earth, "All this is ours" When earth has built up his defences on earth Then shall earth suffer earth's wrath Remember, O man, that you are ashes And unto ashes you will return Earth piles on top of earth like dirt upon dirt He who goes around on earth, glittering like gold As if earth will never return to earth No matter what he would rather want, earth will soon return to earth again I wonder why earth loves earth Or why earth should sweat and toil for earth's sake Because when earth is brought over the edge of his earthy grave Then earth, back in the earth, will have a foul stench Remember, O man, that you are ashes And unto ashes you will return Remember, O man, that you are ashes And unto ashes you will return

Comments

[owlmoose]

Yay, I love the Mediaeval Babes, and was not familiar with this song! They weave such lovely harmonies.

My take on the lyrics is that it's about the inevitable march of time, and how earth (nature) will always overtake the works of humanity (castles, towers, wonders wrought of gold). A thought which I always find simultaneously peaceful and scary.

[justira]

They make such lovely music =D

I like your reading a lot! Mine a little related — man's folly in creating social hierarchies, because in the end, we all equal. Property, greed, dominion — all follies.