Sparrow, my maiden's delight

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by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Passer

(Sung text for setting by J. Novák)

See original

Language: Latin

Our translations: ENG

Passer, deliciae meae puellae,
quicum ludere, quem in sinu tenere,
cui primum digitum dare appetenti
et acris solet incitare morsus,
cum desiderio meo nitenti
carum nescio quid libet iocari,
et solaciolum sui doloris,
credo, ut tum gravis acquiescat ardor:
tecum ludere sicut ipsa possem
et tristis animi levare curas !
 ...

Note: the text above is taken from lines 1-10 of the original text.

Note: some text has been lost from the original as indicated by "[...]".

Note for the final line: Beckett's setting seems to use the spelling "ligitam" but this may be a typo.

Composition:

Jan Novák

Cantica latina

Text Authorship:

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 2

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
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Mario Rapisardi) , no title, first published 1889

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

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 66

Sparrow

(Sung text translation for setting by J. Novák)

See original

Language: English after the Latin

Sparrow, my maiden's delight,
with whom she often plays, held in her lap,
to whom she often offers a fingertip,
provoking a greedy beak to sharp bites,
when it pleases my shining treasure 
to make some sweet jest or other
as a bit of comfort for her distress,
so as, I think, to ease the burden of ardent desire:
O that I could play with you as she does
and lighten the cares of a sad soul!
 ...

Note: the text above is taken from lines 1-10 of the original text.

Note for line 1: "my maiden" is the woman referred to in other poems as Lesbia, with whom Catullus was at first infatuated and later disillusioned (see the poem Odi et amo, "I hate and I love"). She was identified as "Clodia" by the second-century author Apuleius, and modern scholars generally agree that she was Clodia Metelli, daughter of the patrician Appius Claudius Pulcher.

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, appears in Carmina, no. 2
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This text was added to the website: 2025-09-02
Line count: 14
Word count: 98