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Songs of Catullus

Translations © by Grant Hicks

Cantata by Carl Orff (1895 - 1982)

View original-language texts alone: Catulli Carmina

1. Praelusio
 (Sung text)
Language: Latin 
Juvenes, juvenculae, novem senes.
Ante scaenam sinistra juvenes,
dextra juvenculae consederunt retro,
media in parte pulpiti, supra scaenam senes.

Juvenes, juvenculae
Eis aiona
tui sum,
o mea vita,
eis aiona!

Juvenes
Tu mihi cara, 
mi cara amicula
corculum es.

Juvenculae
Corculum es!

Juvenes
Tu mihi corculum!

Juvenculae
Corcule, corcule,
dic mi, dic mi,
a te me amari?

Juvenes
O tui oculi,
ocelli lucidi
fulgurant, efferunt
me velut specula.

Juvenculae
Specula, specula,
tu mihi specula.

Juvenes
O tua blandula
blanda, blandicula,
tua labella.

Juvenculae
Cave, cave,
cave, cavete!

Juvenes
Ad ludum prolectant.

Juvenculae
Cave, cave,
cave, cavete!

Juvenes
O tua lingula
lingula, lingula,
usque perniciter
vibrans ut vipera.

Juvenculae
Cave, cave,
cave, cavete,
cave meam viperam,
nisi te mordet.

Juvenes
Morde me!

Juvenculae
Basia me!

Juvenes, juvenculae
Ha!

Juvenes
O tuae mammulae…

Juvenculae
Mammulae…

Juvenes, juvenculae
…mammae molliculae,
dulciter turgidae,
gemina poma!
Ha!

Juvenes
Mea manus est cupida, 
o vos papillae horridulae!
Mea manus est cupida
illas prensare, vehementer prensare.

Juvenculae
Suave, suave, suave.

Juvenes, juvenculae
Ha!

Juvenculae
O tua mentula, 
mentula, mentula…

Juvenes
Mentula…

Juvenes, juvenculae
Cupide saliens 
peni, peniculus, 
velut pisciculus,
is qui desiderat
tuam fonticulam.
Ha!

Juvenculae
Mea manus est cupida,
coda, codicula, avida, avida!
Mea manus est cupida
illam captare.

Juvenes
Petulanti manicula!
O me felicem!
Tu es Venus,
Venus es!

Juvenculae
O me felicem!

Juvenes
In te 
in te 
in te habitant 
omnia gaudia,
omnes dulcedines,
omnes voluptas.
In te
in te
in tuo amplexu
in tuo ingenti amplexu
tota est
tota est
mihi vita.

Juvenculae
O me felicem!

Juvenes, juvenculae
Eis aiona!

Senes
"Eis aiona,
eis aiona!"
O res ridicula!
Inmensa stultitia.
Nihil durare potest tempore perpetuo.
Cum bene Sol nituit, 
redditur Oceano.
Decrescit Phoebe, 
quam modo plena fuit,
Venerum feritas 
saepe fit aura levis.
Tempus, tempus,
tempus amoris cubiculum non est.
Sublata lucerna 
nulla est fides,
perfida omnia sunt.
O vos brutos, vos stupidos, vos stolidos!

Senex
Lanternari, tene scalam!

Senes
Audite, audite,
audite ac videte:
Catulli carmina.

Juvenes, juvencualae
Audiamus!

Text Authorship:

  • by Carl Orff (1895 - 1982), "Praelusio"

Go to the general single-text view

by Carl Orff (1895 - 1982)
1. Prologue
Language: English 
Young men, young women, nine old men.
The young men before the stage on the left,
the young women sit behind on the right,
the old men in the middle of the platform, above the stage.

Young men, young women
For all eternity 
I am yours,
O my life,
for all eternity!

Young men
You, my dear,
my dear little friend,
you are my sweetheart.

Young women
You are my sweetheart!

Young men
You are my sweetheart!

Young women
Sweetheart, sweetheart,
tell me, tell me,
do you love me?

Young men
O your eyes,
your bright little eyes,
gleam, reflecting
me like mirrors.

Young women
Mirrors, mirrors,
you are mirrors for me.

Young men
O those charming little
charming, charming little
lips of yours.

Young women
Beware, beware,
beware, all of you beware!

Young men
They are an enticement to the game.

Young women
Beware, beware,
beware, all of you beware!

Young men
O your little tongue,
tongue, tongue,
quite nimbly
darting about like a snake.

Young women
Beware, beware,
beware, all of you beware,
beware my snake,
it might bite you.

Young men
Bite me!

Young women
Kiss me!

Young men, young women
Ah!

Young men
O your breasts...

Young women
Breasts...

Young men, young women
...tender breasts,
sweetly swollen,
twin apples!
Ah! Ah!

Young men
My hand is eager,
O you erect nipples!
My hand is eager
to grab them, grab firmly.

Young women
Gently, gently, gently.

Young men, young women
Ah!

Young women
O your phallus,
phallus, phallus...

Young men
Phallus...

Young women
Lustfully leaping
phallus, little phallus,
like a little fish,
that longs for 
your little fountain.
Ah!

Young women
My hand is eager,
phallus, little phallus, yearning, yearning!
My hand is eager
to grasp it.

Young men
With your wanton little hand!
How fortunate I am!
You are Venus,
you are Venus!

Young women
How fortunate I am!!

Young men
In you
in you
in you dwell
all joys,
all charms,
all pleasure.
In you
in you
in your embrace
in your wide embrace
is all
is all
my life.

Young women
How fortunate I am!

Young men, young women
For all eternity!

Old men
"For all eternity,
for all eternity!"
What a laughable thing!
Boundless stupidity.
Nothing can last forever.
When the sun has shone well,
it is returned to the ocean;
the moon wanes,
when it was only now full;
the ferocity of passion
often becomes a gentle breeze.
Time, time,
time is not the bedchamber of love,
Once the lamp is carried off 
there is no loyalty,
all things are treacherous.
O you dullards, you idiots, you brutes!

Old man
Lantern-bearer, hold the ladder!

Old men
Hear, hear,
hear and see:
The songs of Catullus.

Young men, young women
Let us hear!

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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Carl Orff (1895 - 1982), "Praelusio"
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2026-08-11
Line count: 143
Word count: 460

Translation © by Grant Hicks
2. [ACTUS 1. I]. Odi et amo
 (Sung text)
Language: Latin 
Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris?
Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.

Text Authorship:

  • by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 85

See other settings of this text.

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)
2.
Language: English 
I hate and I love. Why should that be, you may ask?
I don't know, but I feel it happening and it torments me.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2025 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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 85
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2025-07-01
Line count: 2
Word count: 24

Translation © by Grant Hicks
3. [II]. Vivamus mea Lesbia
 (Sung text)
Language: Latin 
Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus,
rumoresque senum severiorum
omnes unius aestimemus assis!
Soles occidere et redire possunt;
nobis cum semel occidit brevis lux,
nox est perpetua una dormienda.
Da mi basia mille, deinde centum,
 ... 
deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum.
Dein, cum milia multa fecerimus,
conturbabimus illa, ne sciamus,
aut ne quis malus invidere possit,
cum tantum sciat esse basiorum.

Text Authorship:

  • by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 5

See other settings of this text.

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)
3. [II]. Let us live, my Lesbia
 (Sung text translation) See original
Language: English 
Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love,
and as for the he gossip of old prudes,
let us value it all at a penny.
Suns can set and rise again;
when once our brief light has set
our single night of sleep is eternal.
Give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred,
 ... 
then a full thousand more, then a hundred.
Then, when we have had many thousands,
We will mix them up, lest we know,
or lest any ill-disposed person may envy us,
when he finds out how many kisses there are.

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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 5
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2026-08-06
Line count: 13
Word count: 102

Translation © by Grant Hicks
4. [III]. Ille mi par esse deo videtur
 (Sung text)
Language: Latin 
Ille mi par esse deo videtur,
ille, si fas est, superare divos,
qui sedens adversus identidem te
  spectat et audit

dulce ridentem, misero quod omnis
eripit sensus mihi, nam simul te,
Lesbia, aspexi, nihil est super mi
   ... 

lingua sed torpet, tenuis sub artus
flamma demanat, sonitu suopte
tintinant aures, gemina teguntur
  lumina nocte.

Otium, Catulle, tibi molestum est:
otio exsultas nimiumque gestis:
otium et reges prius et beatas
  perdidit urbes.

Text Authorship:

  • by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 51

See other settings of this text.

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)
4.
 (Sung text translation) See original
Language: English 
He seems to me to be like a god,
or, if such were allowed, to surpass the gods,
who, again and again, sitting in your presence 
   sees and hears you

sweetly laughing, which rips away
all senses from pitiable me; for as soon,
Lesbia, as I have caught sight of you, nothing remains to me
    ... 
  
but my tongue is sluggish, a thin flame
runs down under my limbs, my ears ring
with their own sound, doubled night
   descends upon my eyes.

Leisure, Catullus, is not good for you:
with leisure you frolic and carry on too much:
leisure has before now ruined both kings
   and magnificent cities.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2025 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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 51
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2025-05-19
Line count: 16
Word count: 114

Translation © by Grant Hicks
5. [IV]. Caeli, Lesbia nostra
 (Sung text)
Language: Latin 
Caeli, Lesbia nostra, Lesbia illa,
illa Lesbia, quam Catullus unam
plus quam se atque suos amavit omnes,
nunc in quadriviis et angiportis
glubit magnanimi Remi nepotes.

Text Authorship:

  • by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 58

Go to the general single-text view

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)
5. [IV]. O Caelius, that Lesbia of ours
Language: English 
O Caelius, that Lesbia of ours,
that Lesbia whom alone Catullus
loved more than himself and all his own, 
now at the crossroads and in the alleyways
peels the grandsons of great-souled Remus.

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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 58
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2026-08-06
Line count: 5
Word count: 33

Translation © by Grant Hicks
6. [V]. O mea Lesbia
 (Sung text)
Language: Latin 
O mea Lesbia! Nulli 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.
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

See other settings of this text.

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)
6. [V]. O my Lesbia
 (Sung text translation) See original
Language: English 
O my Lesbia! My lady says there's nobody she'd rather marry
than me, even if Jupiter himself were to court her.
So she says: but what a woman says to an eager lover
is fit to be written on the wind and rushing water.
Catullus and Caelius exit. The old men applaud, saying: 
Old men
Bravo, bravo, bravo,
very good, very good, very good!

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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 70
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2026-08-06
Line count: 4
Word count: 43

Translation © by Grant Hicks
7. [ACTUS II. VI]. Iucundum, mea vita
 (Sung text)
Language: Latin 
Iucundum, mea vita, mihi proponis amorem
  hunc nostrum inter nos perpetuumque fore.
Dormi, dormi, dormi ancora
di magni, facite ut vere promittere possit,
  atque id sincere dicat et ex animo,
ut liceat nobis tota perducere vita
  aeternum hoc sanctae foedus amicitiae.
Dormi, dormi, dormi ancora

Text Authorship:

  • by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 109

See other settings of this text.

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)
7. [ACT II, VI]. You tell me, O my life
 (Sung text translation) See original
Language: English 
You tell me, O my life, that this love of ours
  will be delightful between us and everlasting.
Sleep, sleep, sleep on.
Great gods, grant that she can promise truly,
  and that she says it sincerely and from the heart,
so that we are allowed to prolong for our whole life
  this eternal bond of blessed friendship.
Sleep, sleep, sleep on.

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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 109
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2026-08-07
Line count: 6
Word count: 55

Translation © by Grant Hicks
8. [VII]. O mea Lesbia!
 (Sung text)
Language: Latin 
O mea Lesbia! Desine de quoquam quicquam bene velle mereri
    aut aliquem fieri posse putare pium.
Omnia sunt ingrata, nihil fecisse benigne
    immo etiam taedet, taedet obestque magis;
ut mihi, quem nemo gravius nec acerbius urget,
    quam modo qui me unum atque unicum amicum habuit.
Omnia sunt ingrata.
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. 73

Go to the general single-text view

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)
8. [VII]. O my Lesbia!
 (Sung text translation) See original
Language: English 
O my Lesbia! Leave off hoping to deserve well of anyone in any way 
    or thinking that anyone can be made grateful.
Everything is fruitless; to have acted kindly is nothing —
    on the contrary, it is tiresome, tiresome or rather a nuisance;
as it is to me, whom nobody taxes more severely or bitterly
    than he who only recently considered me his one and only friend.

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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 73
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2026-08-08
Line count: 6
Word count: 65

Translation © by Grant Hicks
9. [ACTUS III. VIII]. Odi et amo
 (Sung text)
Language: Latin 
Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris?
Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.

Text Authorship:

  • by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 85

See other settings of this text.

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)
9.
Language: English 
I hate and I love. Why should that be, you may ask?
I don't know, but I feel it happening and it torments me.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2025 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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 85
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2025-07-01
Line count: 2
Word count: 24

Translation © by Grant Hicks
10. [IX]. Amabo, mea dulcis Ipsitilla
 (Sung text)
Language: Latin 
Amabo, mea dulcis Ipsitilla,
meae deliciae, mei lepores,
iube ad te veniam meridiatum.
Et si iusseris, illud adiuvato,
ne quis liminis obseret tabellam,

neu tibi lubeat foras abire,
sed domi maneas paresque nobis
novem continuas fututiones.
Verum si quid ages, statim iubeto:
nam pransus iaceo et satur supinus

pertundo tunicamque palliumque.

Text Authorship:

  • by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 32

See other settings of this text.

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)
10. [IX]. Please, my sweet Ipsitilla
Language: English 
Please, my sweet Ipsitilla,
my joy, my delight,
ask me to join you for a siesta.
And if you do, see to it
that no one bars the door,

and don't think of going out,
but stay home and get ready for us
to screw nine times in a row.
But if you want to do anything, ask at once:
for, having had lunch, here I lie sated, flat on my back,

poking through my tunic and my cloak.

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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 32
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2026-08-05
Line count: 11
Word count: 79

Translation © by Grant Hicks
11. [X]. Ammiana, puella defututa
 (Sung text)
Language: Latin 
Ammiana puella defututa
Tota milia me decem poposcit,
Ista turpiculo puella naso,
Decoctoris amica Formiani.
Propinqui, quibus est puella curae,
Amicos medicosque conuocate:
Non est sana puella, nec rogare
Qualis sit solide est imaginosa.

Text Authorship:

  • by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 41

Go to the general single-text view

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)
11. [X]. Ammiana the worn-out whore
 (Sung text translation) See original
Language: English 
Ammiana the worn-out whore
Demanded of me all of ten thousand, 
That girl with a rather ugly nose, 
A friend of the bankrupt Formian.
You relatives who care for the girl,
Call together friends and doctors:
The girl is not well, and don't bother asking
how she looks: she's completely delusional.

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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 41
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

Notes
Line 2: An extravagant number of sesterces, equivalent to about 11 years' salary for a Roman legionary of the period.
Line 4: The reference is to a certain Mamurra from the city of Formiae, whom Catullus elsewhere charges with squandering his inheritance and considerable income.


This text was added to the website: 2026-08-07
Line count: 8
Word count: 57

Translation © by Grant Hicks
12. [XI]. Miser Catulle, desinas ineptire
 (Sung text)
Language: Latin 
Miser Catulle, desinas ineptire,
Et quod uides perisse perditum ducas.
Fulsere quondam candidi tibi soles,
Cum uentitabas quo puella ducebat
Amata nobis quantum amabitur nulla.
Ibi illa multa cum iocosa fiebant,
Quae tu uolebas nec puella nolebat.
Fulsere uere candidi tibi soles.
Nunc iam illa non uult: tu quoque inpotens, noli,
Nec quae fugit sectare, nec miser uiue,
Sed obstinata mente perfer, obdura.
Vale, puella! iam Catullus obdurat,
Nec te requiret nec rogabit inuitam:
At tu dolebis, cum rogaberis nulla.
Scelesta, uae te! quae tibi manet vita!
Quis nunc te adibit? cui uideberis bella?
Quem nunc amabis? cuius esse diceris?
Quem basiabis? cui labella mordebis?
At tu, Catulle, destinatus obdura.

Text Authorship:

  • by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 8

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by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)
12. [XI]. Poor Catullus, you should stop playing the fool
Language: English 
Poor Catullus, you should stop playing the fool,
And give up for lost that which you see has perished.
Once suns shone bright for you,
When you used to follow wherever the girl led,
The one we loved as much as none will ever be loved.
When you played there all those games
That you desired and the girl didn't refuse.
Truly suns shone bright for you. 
Now she desires no more: you too, being powerless, give up desiring,
Don't chase her who flees you, or live in misery, 
But carry on resolutely, hold firm.
Farewell, my girl! Catullus now holds firm,
And will not seek or court you if you are unwilling:
But you will be sorry when you are not courted at all.
You wretch, woe unto you! What a life remains to you!
Who now will approach you? Who will find you beautiful?
Whom now will you love? Whose will they say you are?
Whom will you kiss? Whose lip will you nibble?
But you, Catullus, hold firm and resolute.

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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 8
    • Go to the text page.

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This text was added to the website: 2026-08-09
Line count: 19
Word count: 173

Translation © by Grant Hicks

 (The following is a multi-text setting.)

13. [XII]. Nulla potest mulier tantum se dicere amatam 
Nulla potest mulier tantum se dicere amatam
    Vere, quantum a me Lesbia amata mea'st:
Nulla fides ullo fuit umquam in foedere tanta
    Quanta in amore tuo ex parte reperta mea est.

Text Authorship:

  • by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 87

See other settings of this text.

View text with all available footnotes

Researcher for this page: Saúl Botero Restrepo
Nunc est mens deducta tua, mea Lesbia, culpa,
     Atque ita se officio perdidit ipsa suo,
Ut iam nec bene uelle queat tibi, si optima fias,
     Nec desistere amare, omnia si facias.

Text Authorship:

  • by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 75

See other settings of this text.

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with H.V. Macnaghten and A.B. Ramsay, eds., Poems of Catullus, London: Duckworth & co., 1899, page 83.


Research team for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Saúl Botero Restrepo
Author(s): Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)
13. No woman can
No woman can say that she's been so loved,
  Truly, as I have loved Lesbia:
Never has such fidelity been found in any contract
  As in the love that I bear for you.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from Latin to English copyright © 2025 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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 87
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

View text with all available footnotes


It is your fault, my Lesbia, that my mind is now brought low,
     And has so ruined itself by its own devotion,
That now it could neither wish you well, even if you became most worthy,
     Nor cease to love you, no matter what you might do

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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 75
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

View text with all available footnotes


Translation © by Grant Hicks
14. Exodium
 (Sung text)
Language: Latin 
Juvencula atque juvenes,
diu iam non curantes spectaculum,
denuo incitati, moto rursus incenduntur ardore.
Juvenes et juvenculae
Eis aiona!
tui sum!

Senes
Oi me!

Juvenes et juvenculae
Eis aiona!
Ascendite faces! 
Io!

Text Authorship:

  • by Carl Orff (1895 - 1982)

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by Carl Orff (1895 - 1982)
14. Epilogue
Language: English 
The young women and young men,
having long since lost interest in the spectacle,
are aroused once again, inflamed with returning ardor.
Young men and young women
For all eternity!
I am yours!

Old men
Alas!

Young men and young women
For all eternity!
Rise up, flames of love!
Hurrah!

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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in Latin by Carl Orff (1895 - 1982)
    • Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view


This text was added to the website: 2026-08-11
Line count: 12
Word count: 50

Translation © by Grant Hicks
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