Yesterday I bought a nifty trio by Francesco Landini (1325-97). It's on a timeless theme: this new music is junk! The actual Italian words mean this:

I am Music, who, weeping, lament
to see my sweet and perfect utterances
being deserted by intelligent people
because ingnorance and vice are all around.
People are abandoning good and turn to evil.

...yada yada yada...

Everybody wishes to write musical notes,
to compose madrigals, catches and ballads,
each maintaining the unique quality of his own.
He who wants to be praised for a virtue
must first come to the front of the ship.



Does anybody have any idea what the two lines about coming to the front of the ship are referring to?