Spring officially began at 8:07 PM last night. So in good Olde English tradition lets all sing a round! Repeat after me...
Svmer is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu!
Groweþ sed and bloweþ med
And springþ þe wde nu,
Sing cuccu!
Awe bleteþ after lomb,
Lhouþ after calue cu.
Bulluc sterteþ, bucke uerteþ,
Murie sing cuccu!
Cuccu, cuccu, wel singes þu, cuccu;
Ne swik þu nauer nu.
Pes:
Sing cuccu nu. Sing cuccu.
Sing cuccu. Sing cuccu nu!
What? You didn't understand a word of that? Hmmm well I guess the English language has changed somewhat since 1260 AD.
Here is a Modern English translation but it doesn't fit well with the melody.
Summer has arrived,
Loudly sing, Cuckoo!
Seeds grow and meadows bloom
And the forest springs anew,
Sing, Cuckoo!
The ewe bleats after the lamb,
The cow lows after the calf.
The bullock jumps, the billy-goat farts,
Merrily sing, Cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo, well you sing, cuckoo;
Nor cease you ever now,
Sing cuckoo now. Sing, Cuckoo.
Sing Cuckoo. Sing cuckoo now!
There is a sound clip of the first version if this sounds familiar.
So what have you learned today? I am completely off my rocker (cuckoo, cuckoo) and goats have been farting since the Middle Ages!
From log house to farmhouse. Farmhouse to townhouse. Townhouse to apartment house. Apartment house to crack house. Crack house to our house. Our house to our home.
5 comments:
Cuccu a chu.
I refused to acknowledge spring yesterday because it was freezing and gray here. But today, the Gods have smiled and it's not only sunny, it's "warm". A combination that will clearly only last another ten minutes or so... just enough time to sing your song.
Too bad there are no billy goats here to drown me out.
Spring? Hell, I think we just vaulted into early summer. It's supposed to be around 80 for the next few days, a good 15 degrees above normal.
"The billy-goat farts." It makes you wonder what other similar rhymed phrases they rejected if farting livestock won out.
Thanks for the laugh. Great way to start off my week.
Two years late on this comment, but. Are you sure that uerteþ means farted? Thing is it sounds a lot like the old Norse word ørte (past tense ørtet) which means chewing cud.
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