This is only lightly translated because most of the vocabulary matches modern usage. Timor mortis conturbat me is Latin for “the fear of death disturbs me” and comes from the medieval Catholic Office of the Dead. It was often included in poems of the time. Also, “gent” is used as in “gentleman” or “noble.”
My Translation
In what a state so ever I to be
Timor mortis conturbat me.
As I went on a merry morning,
I heard a bird both weep and sing.
This was the tenor of her talking:
Timor mortis conturbat me.
I asked that bird what she meant.
I am a sparrow hawk both fair and gent;
For dread of death I am all spent:
Timor mortis conturbat me.
When I shall die, I know no day;
What country or place I cannot say;
Wherefore sing this song I may:
Timor mortis conturbat me.
Jesus Christ, when He should die,
To His Father began to say,
“Father,” He said, “in Trinity,
Timor mortis conturbat me.”
All Christian people, behold and see:
This world is but a vanity
And replete with necessity.
Timor mortis conturbat me.
Wake I or sleep, eat or drink,
When I on my last end do think,
For great’s the fear my soul does shrink:
Timor mortis conturbat me.
God grant us grace Him for to serve,
And be at our end when we’re interred,
And from the fiend He us preserve.
Timor mortis conturbat me.
Original Middle English
In what estate so ever I be
Timor mortis conturbat me.
As I went on a merry morning,
I heard a bird both weep and sing.
This was the tenor of her talking:
Timor mortis conturbat me.
I asked that bird what she meant.
I am a musket both fair and gent;
For dread of death I am all shent:
Timor mortis conturbat me.
When I shall die, I know no day;
What country or place I cannot say;
Wherefore this song sing I may:
Timor mortis conturbat me.
Jesu Christ, when He sould die,
To His Father He gan say,
Father, He said, in Trinity,
Timor mortis conturbat me.
All Christian people, behold and see:
This world is but a vanity
And replete with necessity.
Timor mortis conturbat me.
Wake I or sleep, eate or drink,
When I on my last end do think,
For greate fear my soul do shrink:
Timor mortis conturbat me.
God grant us grace Him for to serve,
And be at our end when we sterve,
And from the fiend He us preserve.
Timor mortis conturbat me.