Ad lyram
Language: Latin
Poscimus, si quid vacui sub umbra
lusimus tecum, quod et hunc in annum
vivat et pluris, age dic Latinum,
barbite, carmen,
Lesbio primum modulate civi,
qui ferox bello tamen inter arma,
sive iactatam religarat udo
litore navim,
Liberum et Musas Veneremque et illi
semper haerentem puerum canebat
et Lycum nigris oculis nigroque
crine decorum.
o decus Phoebi et dapibus supremi
grata testudo Iovis, o laborum
dulce lenimen mihi cumque salve
rite vocanti.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 72
To his lyre
Language: English after the Latin
I insist, if in the shade I've played any trifle
with you that may live for this year
and more, come now, sing a Latin
song, O lyre,
first tuned by a citizen of Lesbos,
a man fierce in war who yet, between battles,
or when he had moored his ship cast up
on the watery shore,
used to sing of Bacchus and the Muses and Venus
and of the boy who always clings to her,
and of Lycus, graced with black eyes
and black hair.
O tortoiseshell, glory of Phoebus and greeted
at the feasts of supreme Jove, O sweet
relief from toil, be welcome whenever
I duly call.
Note for stanza 2, line 1, "citizen of Lesbos": Alcaeus, a contemporary of Sappho. Alcaeus exercised a strong influence on Horace's poetry, much of which is written in so-called Alcaic stanzas—although the meter of this particular poem is Sapphic.
Note for stanza 3, line 3, "Lycus": the name of several figures in Greek mythology. There is no mention of any of them in the surviving poetry of Alcaeus.
Note for stanza 4, line 1, "tortoiseshell": the traditional soundbox of a Greek lyre; "Phoebus": an epithet of Apollo, god of music (among other things), whose chief instrument was the lyre.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (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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This text was added to the website: 2026-09-26
Line count: 16
Word count: 110
