Igual a un dios me parece

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by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)

Translation © by Saúl Botero Restrepo

Ode Sapphus

(Sung text for setting by J. Novák)

See original

Language: Latin

Our translations: ENG SPA

Ille mi par esse deo videtur,
ille, si fas est, superare divos,
qui sedens adversus identidem te
  spectat et audit

dulce ridentem, misero quod omnis
eripit sensus mihi, nam simul te,
Lesbia, aspexi, nihil est super mi
  vocis in ore,

lingua sed torpet, tenuis sub artus
flamma demanat, sonitu suopte
tintinant aures, gemina teguntur
  lumina nocte.

 ...

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

Composition:

Jan Novák

Cantica latina

Text Authorship:

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 51

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
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 between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 74

Igual a un dios me parece

(Sung text translation for setting by J. Novák)

See original

Language: Spanish (Español) after the Latin

Igual a un dios me parece,
y si es posible superar a los dioses,
el que sentado frente a ti 
te contempla y te oye

reír dulcemente, pero a mí, desdichado,
me quita el sentido. Y si hacia ti, 
Lesbia, mis ojos dirijo, estoy acabado, 


mi lengua es torpe, tenue por mis miembros
una llama se agita, con extraño sonido
tintinean mis oídos y cubre 
mis ojos una doble noche.

 ...

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

Text Authorship:

Translation from Latin to Spanish (Español) copyright © 2015 by Saúl Botero Restrepo, (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. 51
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This text was added to the website: 2015-10-08
Line count: 15
Word count: 91