Firstpublished:1590 in Opus musicum (Jacob Handl), Volume 4, no. 21 Description: "Echo" motet in honour of St. John the Baptist; Chorus II sings nonsense syllables which rhyme with the end of each phrase Chorus I sings.
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Original text and translations
Latin text
Dum vagus huc illuc frondentia lustra pererro
quae vexat me rogo Nais, non ego te quaero
Baptistae ast ipsius ora nun cessas ficta Napaea.
Responde ergo mihi: maneas cum semper in antris silvarum,
velut ac arbore suavis visus Joannes.
Nonne est mea vita? certe haec menti nostrae sunt bona grata,
dic rogo: adhuc invenis tener et pius ille superstat,
contemnit nun vaga dona, mundo compatitur friget,
eheu cur non etiam condoleo, praemoneo fitis pietatis amici vita.
Etenim semper non ea stabit, audis forsan, cave fiat ne pater
qui Deum habere cupit, sedulo clamet, displiceat vitium.
Scandemus caelica castra Dei, fiat nunc modulamen. Amen.
English translation
While I wander here and there through leafy groves,
I ask what troubles me, O Naiad; I do not seek you,
But the face of John the Baptist, yet you never cease, false Nymph.
Answer me, then: remain always in the forest caves,
Like a tree, sweet in appearance, John.
Is he not my life? Surely these things are pleasing to our mind,
I ask you to say: do you still find that tender and pious one stands above,
Despising fleeting gifts, sharing in the cold of the world,
Alas, why do I not also sympathize? I forewarn: the life of a friend is thirsting for piety.
For it will not always stand, perhaps you hear; take care that it may not happen
That he who desires to have God, fervently proclaims, may offend in vice.
We climb the heavenly camp of God; let there now be music. Amen.
Latin text
English translation