Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love

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by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus

Language: Latin

Our translations: ENG SPA

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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,
dein mille altera, dein secunda 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.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• C. Orff

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Text Authorship:

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 5 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-10-19
Line count: 13
Word count: 67

Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love

Language: English after the Latin

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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 another thousand, and a second 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.

Available sung text translations: ← What is this?

• C. Orff

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Translations of titles:
"[II]. Vivamus mea Lesbia" = "[II]. Let us live, my Lesbia"

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.
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Based on:

a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 5
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This text was added to the website: 2026-08-06
Line count: 13
Word count: 102