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[Nulli]1 se dicit mulier mea nubere malle Quam mihi, non si se Iuppiter ipse petat. Dicit: sed mulier cupido quod dicit amanti In vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua.2
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with S. G. Owen, ed., Catullus: with the Pervigilium Veneris, London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1893, page 114.
1 Orff: "O mea Lesbia! Nulli"2 Orff adds
Catullus et Caelius exeunt. Applaudunt senes dicentes: Senes Placet, placet, placet, optime, optime, optime!
Text Authorship:
- by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 70 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Michael Linton , "Nulli se dicit mulier", first performed 2014 [ baritone and piano ], from Carmina Catulli, no. 11 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Orff (1895 - 1982), "[V]. O mea Lesbia", 1940-43, published 1943 [ soli and orchestra ], from cantata Catulli Carmina, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jacques Reuland (b. 1918), "Carmen LXX", from Canzoniere, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Dominick Argento (1927 - 2019) ; composed by Dominick Argento.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Georges Lafaye (1854 - 1927) ; composed by Darius Milhaud.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- SPA Spanish (Español) (Saúl Botero Restrepo) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , John Versmoren , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 4
Word count: 31
¡Oh Lesbia mía! Con ninguno, fuera de mí, dice mi amada que se uniría, así se lo pidiera el mismo Júpiter. Eso dice, pero lo que una mujer dice a su amante hay que escribirlo en el viento y en el agua rápida.1
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesNote: this is a translation of Orff's version.
1 Translation of the rest of Orff's text:
Salen Catulo y Celio. Los viejos aplauden y dicen: Los viejos ¡Bien, bien, bien, excelente, excelente, excelente!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Latin to Spanish (Español) copyright © 2015 by Saúl Botero Restrepo, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 70
This text was added to the website: 2015-10-08
Line count: 4
Word count: 44