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

[II]. Vivamus mea Lesbia

(Sung text for setting by C. Orff)

See original

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,
 ... 
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.

Composition:

Carl Orff

Catulli Carmina

Text Authorship:

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 5

See other settings of this text.

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

ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Saúl Botero Restrepo) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

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

[II]. Let us live, my Lesbia

(Sung text translation for setting by C. Orff)

See original

Language: English after the Latin

Choose for Diff

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 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.

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