Confessio Archipoetae
Commentary and Translation by Novak Tatarevic
Carmina Burana, “The Forest”, courtesy of Munich Digitization Center
The Confessio Archipoetae, or the Confession at Pavia, as it is sometimes called, is a 12th-century Latin poem composed by a man only known as Archipoeta–the Archpoet. The poem is primarily attested in the Codex Buranus, also known as the Carmina Burana (The Beuern Songs), after the Benediktbeuern monastery in southern Germany, where it was rediscovered in the 19th century. The manuscript has largely been made famous after a musical setting by Carl Orff in 1930, and the poem itself, especially the oft-quoted lines of the twelfth stanza: Meum est propositum… have found their way into a popular commercium song, or academic feasting song, of the same name.
Nevertheless, little is definitively known of the Archpoet’s life. It is unknown when and where he was born or died, but he is surmised to have been young at the time of the Confession’s composition given his self-identification as a iuvenis at multiple points in the poem (17, 27). He was almost certainly a member of Fredrick I’s entourage, as he is primarily associated with his more well-documented patron, Rainald of Dassel, the Archbishop of Cologne under the Holy Roman Emperor; the “electe colonie” (Archbishop Elect of Cologne) referred to on line 93. In the Confession, the Archpoet paints himself as the Archbishop’s famulus (94), vassal or retainer in the feudal sense, or subditus (97-98), subject. Rainald was no mere bishop, however, but also the Archchancellor (Archipoeta refers to Rainald in the vocative as Archicancellarie in the incipit of poems IV and VII) of Italy and a powerful player on the side of the Emperor in his conflicts with the Papacy. These Imperial sympathies eventually ended in Rainald’s excommunication by Pope Alexander III for his support of the short-lived Antipope Victor IV.
The Archpoet’s work falls within the “Golidardic” tradition of medieval Latin lyric, a movement associated with satires and drinking songs, often linked to university students and itinerant clergy. The poem is a satire of confession, showing a rich understanding of both Biblical and Classical themes to further his social criticism of clerical hypocrisy. The learned allusions within the poem also make for a strong argument against the perception of Goliardic poetry as a popular or lower-class lyric movement. While the subject matter is often crude and irreverent, The Archpoet writes for a distinctly upper-class audience if it were not already clear by his elite patronage and social milieu.
As for my approach to this translation and transcription, I have had to take the liberty of free verse for my translation. The Archpoet’s verse is beautiful and metrically tight, with a trochaic, stress-based meter with catalexis and a caesura on the seventh syllable. The work is organized in rhyming quatrains with an AAAA rhyme scheme. It is entirely possible to construct a one-to-one formal translation of the poem, with both stress-based trochaic meter and rhyme quite achievable in English. Be that as it may, English is far less suited to both a trochaic meter and rhyme in general. As such, I have had to make some provisions not to belabor the poem’s message or mangle the Archpoet’s literary devices in the service of meter and rhyme.
In the transcription, however, I have taken a more uncompromising approach. Most manuscript transcriptions available online are from an initial transcription by Wilhelm Mayer and a later 1930 edition based on Mayer’s work by Alfons Hilka and Otto Schumann. This edition drew from multiple manuscripts and created a single edition out of these disparate parts based on the editors’ discretion. The text I used was personally transcribed from the Carmina Burana alone, which is but one of many sources in Schumann and Hilka’s transcriptions in order to transfer a sense of the text’s physicality and maintain fidelity to the manuscript source.
ESTVANS1 interius2 ira uehementi.
in amaritudine loquar mee menti.
factus de materia cinis3 elementi.
folio sum similis de quo ludunt uenti.
(4)
Cum sit enim proprium uiro sapienti.
supram petram ponere sedem fundamenti.4
stultus ego comparor fluvio labenti.
sub eodem tramite numquam permanenti.
(8)
Feror ego veluti sine nauta nauis.
ut per uias aeris uaga fertur auis.
non me tenent uincula non me tenet clavis.
quero michi similer et adiungor prauis.
(12)
Michi5 cordis uitas res uidetur gravis.
iocus est amabilis dulciorque fauis.
quicquid uenus imperat labor est suauis.
que numquam coedibus habitat ignauis.
(16)
Via lata gradior more iuuentutis.6
plicor et uicus immemor uirtutis.
uoluptatis auidus magis quam salutis.
mortuis in anima curam gero ciuis.
(20)
Presul discretissime ueniam te precor.
morte bona morior dulci nece necor.
meum pectus sauciat puellas decor.
et quas tactu nequeo saltem corde mechor.7
(24)
Res est arduissima uincere naturam.
inaspectu virginis mentem esse puram.
iuuenes non possumus legem sequi duram.
iuuenumque corporum non habere curam.
(28)
Quis in-igne positus igne non uratur.
quis papie demorans castus habeatur.
ubi uenus digito iuuenes uenatur.
oculos in-laqueat facies predatur.
(32)
Si feras ypolitum hodie papie.8
non erit ypolitus insequenti die.
ueneris ad thalamum omnes currunt vie:
non est in tot turribus turris galathie.9
(36)
Secundo redarguor etiam deludo.
sed cum ludus corpore me dimittat ludo.
frigidus exterius mentis estu ludo.
tunc uersus et carmina meliora cudo. (40)
Tercio capitulo memoro tabernam.
illam nullo tempore spreui nec spernam.
donec sanctos angelos uenientes cernam.
cantantes pro mortuis requiem eternam.10
(44)
Meum est propositum in taberna mori.
ubi vina proxima morientis ori.
tunc cantabunt lectus angelos chori.
deus sit propicius isti potatori.
(48)
Poculis accenditur animi lucerna.
cor ibutum nectare volat ad superna.
michi sapit dulcius uinum de taberna.
quam quod aqua miscuit presulis pincerna.
(52)
Loca uitant publica quidam poetarum.
et secretas eligunt sedes latebrarum.
student instant uigilant nec laborant parum.
et uix inde reddere possunt opus clarum.
(56)
Teiunant et abstinent poetarum chori.
uitant rixas publicas et tumultus fori.
et ut opus faciant quod non possint mori.
moriuntur studio subditi labori.
(60)
Tales uersus facio quale uinum bibo.
nichil possum faces nisi sumpto cibo.
nichil ualent penitus que ieiunus scribo.
nasonem post calicem carmine preibo.11
(64)
Michi numquam spiritus poetria datur.
nisi prius fuerit uenter bene satur.
cum in-arce cerebri bachus dominantur.
in me phebus uiuit et miranda fatur.12
(68)
Vnicuique: proprium dat natura munus.
ego numquam potui scribere ieiunus.
me ieiunum uinces posset puer unus.
sitim et ieiunium odi tamquam funus.
(72)
Vnicuique: proprium dat natura donum.
ego uersus faciens bibo uinum bonum.
et quod habent purius dolia cauponum.
tale uinum generat copiam sermonum.
(76)
Ecce mee proditor paruitatis fui.
de qua me redarguunt seruientes tui.
sed eorum nullius accusator fui.
quamuis uelint ludere secundoque frui.
(80)
Iam nunc inpresentia presulis beati.
secundum dominici regulam mandati.
mittat in me lapidem neque parcat uati.
cuius non est aliquis concius pecati.13
(84)
Sum locutus contra me quicquid de me noui.
et uirus euomui quod tam diu foui.
uita ductus displicer mores placent noui.
homo uidet facie corda patent joui.
(88)
Nam uirtutes diligo uicus irascor.
renouatus animo spiritu renascor.
quasi modo genitus nouo lacte pascor.14
ne sit michi amplius uanitatis labor.
(92)
Electe colonie15 parce nunc egenti.
fac misericordiam famulo petenti.
et da penitentiam culpe penitenti.
feram quicquid iusseris animo libenti.
(96)
Assis ergo subditis immemor irarum.
parcit enim subditis Leo rex ferarum.
et uos idem facite principes terrarum.
quod caret dulcedine nimis est amarum.
(100)
Cum sit fama multiplex de te diuulgata.
ueritati consonent omnia prolata.
colorare stultum est bene colorata.
et non decet aliquem serere iam sata.
(104)
Raptus ergo specie fame decurrentis.
ueni non in modicum uerba dare uentis.
sic ut vorem gremium de profundo mentis.
precepit sed dominus trahat offerentis.16
(108)
Vide si complaceat tibi me tenere.
inscribendis litteris certus sum ualere.
et si forsan accidat opus mine -
vices dictamine potero supplere.
(112)
Hoc si recusaverit audi quod attendas.
paupertatis onero pie condescendas.
et ad penas hominis huius depellendas.
curam aliqua tenus muneris impendas.
(116)
Pater mi sub breui tam multa conprehendi.
quia doctus decens est modus hic loquendi.
et ut prorsus resecem notam applaudendi.
non inuerbo locus placuit protendi.
(120)
Writhing within with vehement wroth
In bitterness I speak of my soul
Made from the spent elements of ash
I am like a leaf that is trifled by the wind (4)
And while it is truly proper for a wise man,
To place upon the rock, his home’s foundation,
I, a fool, am more alike a flowing stream
That never treads one place alone. (8)
I am carried like a ship without a sailor,
Like a wandering bird, borne on the paths of air.
Chains do not bind me, nor does the lock,
When I, seeking like-minded company, join the crooked. (12)
For the ways of the heart seem a serious thing to me,
And jest more gratifying, sweeter even than honey.
For whatever Venus commands makes for pleasant toil,
She, who never dwells among cowards. (16)
So I walk the wide road in the manner of youth,
And arrive there, utterly forgetful of virtue,
More eager for pleasure than salvation.
With the dead in spirit, I share a common woe. (20)
Oh most prudent bishop, I beg you for mercy!
I die a good death, and by sweet murder am I slain,
For my heart is torn by the beauty of girls
And with those I cannot touch,
In my heart at least, I can adulter with. (24)
For to conquer nature is the most difficult thing:
The mind is to be pure, in appearance, like a virgin.
But we youths cannot follow such a harsh law,
And have no care for sprightly bodies. (28)
For who, being placed in the fire, is not consumed by it?
And who, lingering in Pavia, is considered chaste?
Where with a finger Venus ventures after youths?
Luring their eyes and preying on their bodies? (32)
If you were to carry Hypolitus to Pavia today,
He would no longer be Hypolitus on the next day!
All roads run to Venus’ bedchamber,
And among such many towers, none is like Galatea’s. (36)
Secondly, I am accused as well of gambling,
But since the game releases me
From my bodily temptations, I play on,
Cold on the outside, but with a passion on the inside.
Only then can I beat out better songs and verses. (40)
And now, in the third chapter, I speak of the tavern,
That I at no time have spurned nor will ever,
Until I see the sacred angels coming,
singing “Requiem Aeternam,” for the dead! (44)
It is my intention, then, to die in a tavern
Where wine will be nearest to my dying mouth.
Then the chosen choir of the angels will sing,
and may god be merciful to this drinker! (48)
By drinking cups, the lamp of the soul is lit
The soul, soaked in nectar, soars to the heavens.
But to me, the wine from the tavern is sweeter
than that watered-down wine the bishop’s cupbearer mixes. (52)
Now, certain poets avoid public spaces
And they choose secret hiding places,
They study, persist, and hardly toil little
Yet can scarcely produce any famous thing. (56)
The choir of these poets fasts and abstains
And avoids the public brawls and tumults of the market
So they might make such a work, and through it, live forever,
And so die with zeal from the exertion of their labor. (60)
While I make such verses as the wine I drink
And can do nothing unless I’ve eaten.
For nothing I write while fasting is worth a thing,
But after a glass, I surpass even Ovid in song! (64)
Yes, the spirit of poetry is never conferred on me,
Unless, before, my belly is well sated.
Then Bacchus reigns in the fortress of my mind,
And Phoebus dwells in me, speaking wondrous things! (68)
To each: nature gives a proper role.
I was never able to write while fasting,
While fasting, even a single youth could defeat me.
For I hate hunger and thirst as much as death itself. (72)
To each, nature gives its proper gift:
That I, making verses, drink good wine
And that the innkeepers have even better vintages,
Such wine as brings forth a wealth of words! (76)
So behold, I was the traitor of my own frivolity,
For which your servants rightly condemn me,
But of them, I was no one’s accuser.
As much as they might wish to play and enjoy favorable circumstances, (80)
Already now in the presence of the blessed bishop.
Following the Lord’s appointed rule:
Let him cast at me a rock, nor let him spare a poet -
if such a man exists, who is unaware of his own sin! (84)
I have confessed all that I know of myself,
And spewed forth the venom harbored so long.
The life I’ve led disgusts me, but my new morals are pleasing.
Man sees my outer form, but only Jove sees my open heart. (88)
For I hold the virtues in high regard and rage against vice,
Renewed in soul, revived in spirit,
Feeding on fresh milk like a newborn.
So let there be no more vain toil for me! (92)
O Archbishop elect of Cologne, forgive the one in need
Have mercy on a pleading servant,
And grant absolution for the guilt of this penitent!
I shall bear whatever you command with willing spirit. (96)
For wealth is heedless to the indignation of its subjects
while truly, the Lion, king of beasts, is merciful
and so I urge you all, worldly rulers, to do the same!
For that which lacks all sweetness is unbearably bitter. (100)
And now, since manifold fame has already been spread about you
Let everything said be only in harmony with truth
For it’s pointless to paint what is already painted,
And improper to sow where is already sown. (104)
Thus, having been seized by the appearance of fleeting hunger
I did not come lightly, to waste my words on the wind,
But instead to nourish myself from the depths of the mind.
For the Lord decreed: draw forth the one who freely offers. (108)
And so consider if it would please you to keep me,
For I am certain in my mastery of letters.
And if perhaps a pressing matter should arise
Then I’ll be able to step in with my compositions.
And if these pleas too should be rejected, (112)
Hear then what you ought to attend to:
For I piously bear the burden of poverty,
So would you kindly condescend
To alleviate my suffering?
And devote at least some care for your duty? (116)
Oh my father, I have reckoned briefly such many things
Because this manner of speech is fitting and learned.
And so I might straightforward curtail any mark of applause,
It is decided that this is no occasion for verbosity. (120)
1. The manuscript itself isn’t written in lines or stanzas but as a single block of text. Each “line” I have depicted here is marked with a “punctus” at the end in the original text, and each “stanza” begins with a rubricated capital, one every four lines, as I have tried to depict in my lineation.
2. and 3. these are some examples of textual variation in the Schumann edition and the original manuscript. Compare: Interius as intrinsecus and cinis as levis.
4. Luke 6:48, especially in use of petram and fundamenti. The Archpoet holds this as an example of what is proper for a wise man, and paints himself, by comparison, as a fool: “stultus ego comparor.”
5. “Michi,” a medieval textual variation of mihi, see also nichil, nihil. Indicates a sounded ‘h.’ Note Hypolitus as “ypolitus” on lines 33 and 34.
6. Matthew 7:13, “the wide road,” that leads to damnation. Compare: “via lata,” and “lata porta, et spatiosa via est” (Matthew 7:13, Vulgate).
7. Matthew 5:27, the Sermon on the Mount. Christ preaches that lust in the mind is equivalent to adultery. The poet playfully misconstrues this as approval rather than condemnation. If physical adultery is a sin, then barring that, an invisible lust is always free and guiltless. Compare: “et quas tactu nequeo saltem corde mechor” and “...jam moechatus est eam in corde suo” (Matthew 5:27, Vulgate).
8. Hypolitus was considered a paragon of Christian chastity in medieval readings of the myth, exemplified by his rejection of Phaedra’s temptation. As such, the notion that even Hypolitus would not remain chaste in Pavia is a poetic statement of hyperbole, and a further ironic justification for the poet’s actions.
9. A likely reference to Galatea from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, serving in a medieval context as an ideal of beauty. That among so many “towers,” or choices, there is none like “Galatea’s,” that is, beauty. Compare “ueneris ad thalamum omnes currunt vie” and “non erit ypolitus insequenti die” for themes of classical allusion and the inevitability of lust. Compare also invocation of Venus, “quanta potentia regni est, Venus alma, tui!” in Met.13.759-60. The “Galatea” in this instance is likely the Nereid from the story of Acis and Galatea in Book 13, as Pygmalion’s statue was as of yet unnamed at this point in the tradition.
Hilka and Schumann choose “Alethie,” Aletheia, in their transcription based on a purported reference to Theodulus’ Eclogue, but I believe Galatea is a stronger reading based on the Ovidian themes in the Confession and a more difficult one given the difference of accessibility between the Metamorphoses and the Eclogue, even if manuscript weight leans towards Aletheia.
10. The Requiem Mass for the dead, representing the absolute furthest point the poet can delay repentance.
11. A direct reference to Ovid, following Ovidian influences in the poem as a whole, see footnotes 8 and 9. The notion of “surpassing Ovid” is a play on the notion of Ovid’s own poetic self-comparison, see Amores 1.15.41-42 and Met. 15.878-879.
12. Allusions to the relationship between wine (Bacchus) and poetic inspiration (Phoebus). See lines 40 and 61.
13. A playful reference to John 8:7, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone” (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition), pointing out the hypocrisy of the poet’s accusers.
Note usage of “uati” for Ovidian significance. Classicizing phrasing, also after Virgil, the leading figure in resurrecting “vates” in the sense of “poet.” May reflect the Aeneid’s wide readership in the middle ages or the Archpoet’s own propensity for Ovid. See also Aen. 7.41.
14. 1 Peter 2:2, a direct reference to the Introit of mass for the Second Sunday of Easter or “Quasimodo Sunday.” Compare: “Quasi modo géniti infántes” in the Roman Missal.
15. Direct address to Rainald of Dassel. “The Archbishop Elect of Cologne.”
16. Compare: “nemo potest venire ad me, nisi Pater, qui misit me, traxerit eum” (John 6:44, Vulgate).
Bibliography
Carmina Burana. 13th cent. Codex Buranus (Clm 4660/4660a). Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich. Accessed February 26th, 2025. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021668089.
Hilka, Alfons, and Otto Schumann, eds. Carmina Burana. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Verlag, n.d.