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
Captabis placidum petulca somnum,
Hic unda vitrea pedes lavabis,
O pulcherrima Phylli quid moraris?

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available 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".

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