triplum: Good shepherd Guillermus,
Surely what was bestowed on you
Was no breast unprotected,
But one strongly armoured
By a host of virtues
Through Minerva’s favour.
You guard the gates and doorposts
Of your city, so these enemies
Might not destroy the city:
The world, the devil, and the flesh,
By whose bitter bite
Many are stricken.
The mitre that encircles your head
Signifies with its double horns
The two testaments,
Which he who bears the mitre
Must possess as ornaments
Of a pure mind.
And since you are imbued with
And totally enveloped
By purity,
Your head is worthy to bear
The mitre, so that the signs
Equal what is signified.
In bearing the burden of the people’s care,
You express the wish that individuals strive
To help those who have gone astray.
With the first part of your staff
You know how to attract;
With that other part
Which is in the middle, you know
How to guide those ravaged by sickness;
And with the third part
How to spur on the slothful.
You feed your sheep with sermons
And with discourse
That is praiseworthy,
And in the end
With sensible gifts.
After this exile here
May the King, who brings about all things,
And who spares the humble,
Give him a stable dominion
In place of this unsteady one.
motetus:
Good shepherd, you who surpass
The other shepherds by your morals
And by your descent,
And by the fruit of your studies,
Lifting the minds of those laid low
Up to heaven.
Oh you, Guillermus, so fittingly adorned:
The King who powerfully
Ordains all things
Has, especially, chosen you
To grace His house as shepherd
Of the people of Reims.
He chose you, as an honourable vessel,
As a pre-eminent vessel,
From which nothing should be poured
If it be not worthy;
He gave you, as a special vessel,
To Himself, the King;
He gave you, as a general vessel,
To his flock.
tenor:
Good shepherd.
English: R Barton Palmer
Machaut: The single rose
