"compari Venus pudore mittit ad te virgines :
una res est quam rogamus : cede, virgo Delia,
ut nemus sit incruentum de ferinis [stragibus,
et rigentibus virentes ducat umbras floribus.]1
ipsa vellet te rogare, si pudicam flecteret ;
ipsa vellet ut venires, si deceret virginem.
iam tribus choros videres feriatis noctibus
congreges inter catervas ire per saltus tuos,
floreas inter coronas, myrteas inter casas.
nec Ceres nec Bacchus absunt, nec poetarum deus.
[detinenda]2 tota nox est, [pervigilanda]3 canticis :
regnet in silvis Dione ! tu recede, Delia !"

cras amet qui numquam amavit quique amavit cras amet !

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Catullus, Tibullus, Pervigilium Veneris, Loeb Classical Library 6, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000, Pages 352-354.

¹ Lloyd: "stragibus."
² Lloyd: "de tenente"
³ Lloyd: "pervigilia"

Text Authorship:

• by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, no title [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 George Lloyd (1913 - 1998), no title, 1978-80 [ soprano, tenor, chorus and orchestra ], from Pervigilium Veneris, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Ferdinando Albeggiani

This text was added to the website: 2005-08-14
Line count: 13
Word count: 95