This is Commemoration Day at Glasgow University and Professor Sir Kenneth Calman, the university’s Chancellor, will be presiding over an honorary graduation ceremony at which the international student anthem, Gaudeamus Igitur, Juvenes Dum Sumus, will feature.
Here is his reflection on the lessons of the song for young and old.
GAUDEAMUS IGITUR, SENIORES DUM SUMUS
We looked back across the square to the castle
Heidelberg's great ornament, and the guide said
Remember the Student Prince and hear the students,
Carousing and Singing Gaudeamus Igitur
~
It took me back in nostalgia to my student days in Glasgow
A university 70 years younger than Heidelberg
Where I first learned the words and the music
And they flooded back again, with the memories
~
And more recent ones too, at graduations
Where the words are sung by the students
As the academic procession comes into the great hall,
Relatives and friends listening and joining in
~
Gaudeamus Igitur, - therefore let us rejoice
While we are still young, with energy and ideals
And as we get older the troubles of age appear
We know that soon we will return to the earth
~
Here, as I stood in the square, I wondered
About these words and their meaning
Is it really true that age brings troubles?
I beg to disagree! Is it not also a time for hope and joy?
~
Age brings its own rewards and happiness
It generates its own ideas and thoughts
You can still have energy and excitement
And all life's lessons learned can help
~
Gaudeamus igitur, seniores dum sumus
Gaudeamus igitur, vivamus floreamus
Let us therefore rejoice, we have reached old age
Therefore let us rejoice and enjoy it!
~
Another verse praises academia
And that they should live long and flourish
Now that I agree with and support!
But the heart remains, Gaudeamus Igitur
~
Whether we are young or old
Life is to be enjoyed to the full
Student or professor, ideals matter
Gaudemaus igitur, vivamus floreamus
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