Gaudeamus Igitur
Let us live then and be gladWhile young life's before us!After youthful pastime had,After old age hard and sad,Earth will slumber o'er us.
Where are they who in this world,Ere we kept, were keeping?Go ye to the gods above;Go to hell; inquire thereof:They are not; they're sleeping.
Brief is life, and brevityBriefly shall be ended:Death comes like a whirlwind strong,Bears us with his blast along;None shall be defended.
Live this university,Men that learning nourish;Live each member of the same,Long live all that bear its name;Let them ever flourish!
Live the commonwealth also,And the men that guide it!Live our town in strength and health,Founders, patrons, by whose wealthWe are here provided!
Live all girls! A health to you,Melting maids and beauteous!Live the wives and women too,Gentle, loving, tender, true,Good, industrious, duteous!
Perish cares that pule and pine!Perish envious blamers!Die the Devil, thine and mine!Die the starch-necked Philistine!Scoffers and defamers!
Words in this poem
- pastime n.
- That which amuses, and serves to make time pass agreeably; sport; amusement; diversion. [Pass + time: cf. F. passetemps.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- university n.
- The universe; the whole. Dr. H. More. [OE. universite, L. universitas all together, the whole, the universe, a number of persons associated into one body, a society, corporation, fr. universus all to]
- commonwealth n.
- A state; a body politic consisting of a certain number of men, united, by compact or tacit agreement, under one form of government and system of laws. [Common + wealth well-being.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- industrious a.
- Given to industry; characterized by diligence; constantly, regularly, or habitually occupied; busy; assiduous; not slothful or idle; -- commonly implying devotion to lawful and useful labor. [L. industrius, industriosus: cf. F. industrieux. See Industry.]
- duteous a.
- Fulfilling duty; dutiful; having the sentiments due to a superior, or to one to whom respect or service is owed; obedient; as, a duteous son or daughter. [From Duty.]
- pule v. i.
- To cry like a chicken. [F. piauler; cf. L. pipilare, pipire, to peep, pip, chirp, and E. peep to chirp.]
- envious a.
- Malignant; mischievous; spiteful. [OF. envios, F. envieux, fr. L. invidiosus, fr. invidia envy. See Envy, and cf. Invidious.]
- philistine n.
- A native or an inhabitant of ancient Philistia, a coast region of southern Palestine. [L. Philistinus, Heb. Phlishthi, pl. Phlishthim.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Gaudeamus Igitur is in the public domain. This text is taken from Wine, Women, and Song Mediaeval Latin Students' songs; Now first translated into English verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #18044; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Addington Symonds, Gaudeamus Igitur, in Wine, Women and Song (1884), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18044, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/symonds-wine-women/gaudeamus-igitur.html, id L11869.
Form and metre
Gaudeamus Igitur is 35 lines in 7 stanzas of 5 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAAB, in 2 of the 7 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.7 syllables. 12 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 9% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAAB gladA · usB · hadA · sadA · usB
- 2 -ABBA world · keepingA · aboveB · thereofB · sleepingA
- 3 -ABBA brevity · endedA · strongB · alongB · defendedA
- 4 -ABBA university · nourishA · sameB · nameB · flourishA
- 5 --AA- also · it · healthA · wealthA · provided
- 6 ABAAB youA · beauteousB · tooA · trueA · duteousB
- 7 ABA-B pineA · blamersB · mineA · philistine · defamersB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Let us live then and be glad | 7 | ······· |
| While young life's before us! | 6 | ······ |
| After youthful pastime had, | 7 | ··/˘/·· |
| After old age hard and sad, | 7 | ······· |
| Earth will slumber o'er us. | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Where are they who in this world, | 7 | ······· |
| Ere we kept, were keeping? | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Go ye to the gods above; | 7 | ······· |
| Go to hell; inquire thereof: | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| They are not; they're sleeping. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Brief is life, and brevity | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Briefly shall be ended: | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Death comes like a whirlwind strong, | 7 | ····/·· |
| Bears us with his blast along; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| None shall be defended. | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Live this university, | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| Men that learning nourish; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Live each member of the same, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Long live all that bear its name; | 7 | ······· |
| Let them ever flourish! | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Live the commonwealth also, | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| And the men that guide it! | 6 | ······ |
| Live our town in strength and health, | 7 | ·/····· |
| Founders, patrons, by whose wealth | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| We are here provided! | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Live all girls! A health to you, | 7 | ······· |
| Melting maids and beauteous! | 7 | /˘··/˘˘ |
| Live the wives and women too, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Gentle, loving, tender, true, | 7 | /˘/˘/˘· |
| Good, industrious, duteous! | 8 | ·˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Perish cares that pule and pine! | 8 | /˘······ |
| Perish envious blamers! | 7 | /˘/˘˘·· |
| Die the Devil, thine and mine! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Die the starch-necked Philistine! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Scoffers and defamers! | 6 | ······ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.