Carmina Burana

O Fortuna! is a medieval Latin Goliardic poem composed early in the thirteenth century, part of the collection known as the Carmina Burana. It is a complaint about fate, and Fortuna, a goddess in Roman mythology and personification of luck. In 1935–36 O Fortuna was set to music by the German composer Carl Orff for his twenty-four-movement cantata Carmina Burana. It is the most famous movement and opens and closes the cycle. Orff's setting of the poem has become immensely popular and has been performed by countless classical music ensembles as well as popular artists. The composition appears in numerous movies and television commercials and has become a staple in popular culture, setting the mood for dramatic or cataclysmic situations. 

O Fortune,

just as the moon

Stands constantly changing,

always increasing

or decreasing;

Detestable life

now difficult

and then easy

Deceptive sharp mind;

poverty

power

it melts them like ice.

Fate—monstrous

and empty,

you whirling wheel,

stand malevolent,

well-being is vain

and always fades to nothing,

shadowed

and veiled

you plague me too;

now through the game,

my bare back

I bring to your villainy.

Fate, in health

and in virtue,

is now against me

driven on

and weighted down,

always enslaved.

So at this hour

without delay

pluck the vibrating string;

since through Fate

strikes down the strong,

everyone weep with me!