My lady says there's nobody she'd rather marry

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by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

[V]. O mea Lesbia

(Sung text for setting by C. Orff)

See original

Language: Latin

Our translations: ENG SPA

Choose for Diff

O mea Lesbia! Nulli se dicit mulier mea nubere malle
Quam mihi, non si Iuppiter ipse petat. 
Dicit: sed mulier cupido quod dicit amanti
In vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua.
Catullus et Caelius exeunt. Applaudunt senes dicentes: 
Senes
Placet, placet, placet,
optime, optime, optime!

Composition:

Carl Orff

Catulli Carmina

Text Authorship:

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 70

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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

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , John Versmoren , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 4
Word count: 32

[V]. O my Lesbia

(Sung text translation for setting by C. Orff)

See original

Language: English after the Latin

Choose for Diff

O my Lesbia! My lady says there's nobody she'd rather marry
than me, even if Jupiter himself were to ask.
So she says: but what a woman says to an eager lover
is fit to be written on the wind and rushing water.
Catullus and Caelius exit. The old men applaud, saying: 
Old men
Bravo, bravo, bravo,
very good, very good, very good!

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. 70
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This text was added to the website: 2026-08-06
Line count: 4
Word count: 45