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by Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65 BCE - 8 BCE)
Translation by Wilhelm Binder (1810 - 1876)

Donec gratus eram tibi
Language: Latin 
HORATIUS
Donec gratus eram tibi
nec quisquam potior bracchia candidae
     cervici iuvenis dabat,
Persarum vigui rege beatior.

LYDIA
     Donec non alia magis
arsisti neque erat Lydia post Chloën,
     multi Lydia nominis,
Romana vigui clarior Ilia.

HORATIUS
     Me nunc Thressa Chloë regit,
dulcis docta modos et citharae sciens,
     pro qua non metuam mori,
si parcent animae fata superstiti.

LYDIA
     Me torret face mutua
Thurini Calais filius Ornyti,
     pro quo bis patiar mori,
si parcent puero fata superstiti.

HORATIUS
     Quid si prisca redit Venus
diductosque iugo cogit aëneo,
     si flava excutitur Chloë?
Reiectaeque patet ianua Lydiae?

LYDIA
     Quamquam sidere pulchrior
ille est, tu levior cortice et inprobo
     iracundior Hadria,
tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65 BCE - 8 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina (Odes), in 3. Liber III (Book III), no. 9 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Ella Georgiyevna Adayevskaya (1846 - 1926), "Horazische Ode", subtitle: "Wechselgesang", 1896, published 1918 [ vocal duet for soprano and baritone with piano ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Cipriano de Rore (1516 - 1565), "Donec gratus eram tibi" [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857) , "À Lydie", subtitle: "Imitation", written 1837, appears in Poésies nouvelles ; composed by Martial Caillebotte, Jules Massenet.
      • Go to the text.
  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [an adaptation] ; composed by Augusta Mary Anne Holmès.
      • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Binder (1810 - 1876) , "Wechselgespräch", subtitle: "Versmaß 2." ; composed by Ella Georgiyevna Adayevskaya.
      • Go to the text.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • FRE French (Français) (Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle) , "À Lydia"
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Mario Rapisardi) , no title, written 1883, appears in Le odi di Orazio, in 3. Libro terzo, no. 9
  • POL Polish (Polski) (Lucjan Hipolit Siemieński) , "Rozmowa", first published 1916


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2011-08-19
Line count: 30
Word count: 113

Als ich 'Holdester' noch dir hieß
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the Latin 
HORATIUS
Als ich 'Holdester' noch dir hieß
Und willkommener nicht einer der Jünglinge
Dir den blendenden Hals umschlang, 
Da war Persiens Herr nicht so beglückt als ich.

LYDIA
Als dich keine Geliebtere
Anzog, Lydia nicht nied'rer als Chloë stand,
Da galt Lydias Name viel,
Nicht Roms Ilia war höher geehrt als ich.

HORATIUS
Mich beherrscht nun die Thrakerin
Chloë, sie, die so süß singet zum [Lautenspiel]1,
Für sie wäre der Tod mir leicht, 
Gönnte mir das Geschick, dass mir die Teure lebt.

LYDIA
Wechselseitige Glut entflammt
Mich für Ornytus' Sohn, Turiums Calaïs;
Zweimal litt' ich den Tod für ihn, 
Gönnte mir das Geschick, dass mir der Jüngling lebt.

HORATIUS
Wie, wenn wieder die Liebe kehrt
Und in's eherne Joch neu die Getrennten schmiegt?
Wenn nun Chloë, die Blonde, weicht
Und wie früher die Tür Lydien offen steht?

LYDIA
Sei auch schöner als Sternenglanz
Er, du leichter als Kork, brausetest heftiger
Als die [Brandungen Adrias]2,
[Gern doch leb' ich mit dir, sterbe mit dir auch gern]3.

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   E. Adayevskaya 

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Quintus Horatius Flaccus, Werke deutsch in den Versweisen der Urschrift von Dr. Wilhelm Binder, 1. Bd. Stuttgart, 1861.

1 Adayevskaya: "Saitenspiel"
2 Adayevskaya: "Wogen der Adria"
3 Adayevskaya: "Gerne lebt' ich mit dir, stürbe mit dir auch gern"

Text Authorship:

  • by Wilhelm Binder (1810 - 1876), "Wechselgespräch", subtitle: "Versmaß 2." [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65 BCE - 8 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina (Odes), in 3. Liber III (Book III), no. 9
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Ella Georgiyevna Adayevskaya (1846 - 1926), "Horazische Ode", 1896, published 1918 [ vocal duet for soprano and baritone with piano ], Köln : Tischer & Jagenburg, also set in Latin [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2023-09-14
Line count: 30
Word count: 171

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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