Sarcæ ad litora fluminis canebat
Pastor Sarcius adpetente vere
Dum pascit niveas suas capellas,
Et texit salice e levi quasillum
O pulcherrims Phylli quid moraris?
Cur non huc ades O venusta Phylli?
Viden buxifer ut vocat Brionus,
Lymphanusque caput nitens oliva;
Te pomaria , te vocant salicta,
Et nostri sine te greges miselli,
O pulcherrima Phylli , quid moraris?
Jam florent siluæ, nemus virescit,
Hic carpes violam, et rosas rubentes,
Et texes capiti tuo corollam,
Hic inter corylos, et [illiceta]1
Captabis placidum petulca somnum,
Hic unda vitrea pedes lavabis,
O pulcherrima Phylli quid moraris?

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Nicolaus Arcensis, Numerorum liber IV, Verona: Typis Marci Moroni, 1762, Page 292.

Note: ampersands (&) in the original have been replaced with the word "et".
¹ Novák: "iliceta"

Text Authorship:

• by Nicolaus Arcensis (1479 - 1546), "De Sarcio pastore" [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 Jan Novák (1921 - 1984), "Carmen pastorale", from Cantica latina, no. 32 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 95