We are pure sons and daughters

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by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

To Diana

(Sung text for setting by R. Beckett)

See original

Language: Latin

Our translations: ENG

 ... 

O Latonia, maximi
magna progenies Jovis,
quam mater prope Deliam
deposivit olivam,

montium domina ut fores
silvarumque virentium
saltuumque reconditorum
amniumque sonantum.

Dianae sumus in fide
puellae et pueri integri:
dianam pueri integri
puellaeque canamus.

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 2-3,1 of the original text.

Composition:

Ronald A. Beckett

Three Latin Poems by Catullus

Songs and Arias

Text Authorship:

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title

See other settings of this text.

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: 2015-06-28
Line count: 24
Word count: 78

To Diana

(Sung text translation for setting by R. Beckett)

See original

Language: English after the Latin

 ... 

O Latonia, great daughter
of the supreme Jove,
delivered by your mother
near the Delian olive tree,

to make you mistress of the mountains 
and of the green forests
and of the hidden glades
and of the roaring rivers.

We are pure sons and daughters 
under Diana's protection:
We, the pure sons and daughters,
sing of Diana.

 ...

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 2-3,1 of the original text.

Note for stanza 2, line 1, word 2: "Latonia", meaning "belonging to Latona", refers to Diana as the daughter of Latona, the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Leto.
Note for stanza 2, line 4, word 3: "Delian" refers to the island of Delos, considered to have been Diana's birthplace.

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.
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Based on:

a text in Latin by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title
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This text was added to the website: 2025-07-14
Line count: 24
Word count: 122