Sumer is i-cumin in

[conuly]

Sing, cuccu, nu. Sing, cuccu.
Sing, cuccu. Sing, cuccu, nu.

Sumer is i-cumin in—
Lhude sing, cuccu!
Groweth sed and bloweth med
And springth the wude nu.
Sing, cuccu!

Awe bleteth after lomb,
Lhouth after calve cu,
Bulluc sterteth, bucke verteth—
Murie sing, cuccu!
Cuccu, cuccu,
Wel singes thu, cuccu.
Ne swik thu naver nu!

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/51000/sumer-is-i-cumin-in

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Translated into Modern English:

Summer has come in,
Loudly sing, Cuckoo!
The seed grows and the meadow blooms
And the wood springs anew,
Sing, Cuckoo!
The ewe bleats after the lamb
The cow lows after the calf.
The bullock stirs, the stag farts,
Merrily sing, Cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo, well you sing, cuckoo;
Don't ever you stop now,

Sing cuckoo now. Sing, Cuckoo.
Sing Cuckoo. Sing cuckoo now!

https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2012/06/sumer-is-icumen-in.html

Comments

I call translator shenanigans

[movingfinger]

OED does give "farts" as the meaning of "verteth" here, but it genuinely doesn't make sense given that the bullock is happily leaping or bounding about (sterteth), as they do when turned out to graze on fresh green grass. "Vert" can refer to the forest and brush cover where bucks live, but it also has a heraldic meaning, to leap with a curved back. OED itself also gives "root up the ground" with the sense of "turning it up," which bucks certainly do do, going after greens, a far more plausible and noticeable spring activity among the animals than farting.

Re: I call translator shenanigans

[conuly]

Fart is by far the most common translation I've seen, with alternate translations usually indicating that they're going for the feel of the thing rather than a literal translation. But... our ancestors sometimes had a different idea of what feels appropriate than we do. (Some people also do claim that all that jumping around does coincide with farting, but I don't know enough about deer to venture an opinion on this subject.)

https://earlymusicmuse.com/sumer-is-icumen-in-perspice-christicola/

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/94624/13th-century-song-about-deer-farts-debate

Mental Floss, oddly, is the only site I found that actually shows multiple arguments from the pro and anti fart camps.

[kareina]

Given that summer comes with mosquitos (up north where I live), ticks (down south, where I was bitten by them at an event last week), and hot weather, I rather prefer my filk of this song:

Winter time it has arrived,
gladly sing woohoo!

Crystal trees
and icy breeze
and oh the sky so blue!
Sing woohoo!

Sliding down the hill so fast,
it's what we love to do.
Play in the snow,
your face aglow,
gaily sing woohoo!

Woohoo, woohoo,
snow-time brings us woohoo,
the silver and the blue.

Winter time it has arrived,
gladly sing woohoo!

While inside,
warm place to bide,
and court a lover new!
Sing woohoo!

Stars all day, come out and play,
the perfect time to woo.
Time for dancing,
while romancing,
gaily do we woo!

Woohoo, woohoo,
snow-time brings us woohoo,
the silver and the blue.

Winter time it has arrived,
glady sing woohoo!

Fire in sky
as angels fly
'tis nature's gift to you.
Sing woohoo!

Snowflakes falling to the ground
bring children joy so true!
'tis cold outdoors
so Troubadours
gaily sing woohoo!

Woohoo, woohoo,
Snow-time brings us woohoo,
the silver and the blue.

[adafrog]

Neat.

[darkoshi]

Woohoo! Nice

[acelightning73]

Ezra Pound:

“Winter is icummen in,
Lhude sing Goddamm,
Raineth drop and staineth slop
And how the wind doth ramm!
Sing: Goddamm.
Skiddeth bus and sloppeth us,
An ague hath my ham.
Freezeth river, turneth liver
Damn you, sing: Goddamm.
Goddamm, Goddamm, tis why I am,
Goddamm.
So 'gainst the winter's balm
Sing Goddamm, damm, sing Goddamm
Sing Goddamm, sing Goddamm,
DAMM.”
― Ezra Pound

[acelightning73]

Woohoo indeed! At this latitude, I'm not likely to see comfortable weather again until after Samhain.