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HORATIUS
Donec gratus eram tibi
nec quisquam potior bracchia candidae
cervici iuvenis dabat,
Persarum vigui rege beatior.
LYDIA
Donec non alia magis
arsisti neque erat Lydia post Chloën,
multi Lydia nominis,
Romana vigui clarior Ilia.
HORATIUS
Me nunc Thressa Chloë regit,
dulcis docta modos et citharae sciens,
pro qua non metuam mori,
si parcent animae fata superstiti.
LYDIA
Me torret face mutua
Thurini Calais filius Ornyti,
pro quo bis patiar mori,
si parcent puero fata superstiti.
HORATIUS
Quid si prisca redit Venus
diductosque iugo cogit aëneo,
si flava excutitur Chloë?
Reiectaeque patet ianua Lydiae?
LYDIA
Quamquam sidere pulchrior
ille est, tu levior cortice et inprobo
iracundior Hadria,
tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65 BCE - 8 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina (Odes), in 3. Liber III (Book III), no. 9 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ella Georgiyevna Adayevskaya (1846 - 1926), "Horazische Ode", subtitle: "Wechselgesang", 1896, published 1918 [ vocal duet for soprano and baritone with piano ], also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Cipriano de Rore (1516 - 1565), "Donec gratus eram tibi" [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Louis Charles Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857) , "À Lydie", subtitle: "Imitation", written 1837, appears in Poésies nouvelles ; composed by Martial Caillebotte, Jules Massenet.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [an adaptation] ; composed by Augusta Mary Anne Holmès.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Wilhelm Binder (1810 - 1876) , "Wechselgespräch", subtitle: "Versmaß 2." ; composed by Ella Georgiyevna Adayevskaya.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle) , "À Lydia"
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Mario Rapisardi) , no title, written 1883, appears in Le odi di Orazio, in 3. Libro terzo, no. 9
- POL Polish (Polski) (Lucjan Hipolit Siemieński) , "Rozmowa", first published 1916
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-08-19
Line count: 30
Word count: 113
Horace:
As long as I was pleasing to you
and there was no more desirable youth
embracing your fair neck,
I prospered, happier than the king of the Persians.
Lydia:
As long as you did not burn hotter
for another, and Lydia was not second to Chloe,
Lydia of great renown,
I prospered, more illustrious than Roman Ilia.
Horace:
Now Thracian Chloe commands me,
skilled in sweet measures and knowing the cithara,
for whom I will not fear to die,
if the Fates will allow the dear soul to survive.
Lydia:
I am burnt with a mutual brand
by Calais, son of Oryntus of Thurii,
for whom I will twice suffer death,
if the Fates will allow the dear lad to survive.
Horace:
What if yesterday's love returns
and joins the estranged with a yoke of bronze,
if golden-haired Chloe is cast off?
And the door stands open to spurned Lydia?
Lydia:
Though he is fairer than the stars,
and you lighter than a cork and stormier
than the restless Adriatic,
I'd love to live with you, I'd gladly die with you.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles:
"Donec gratus eram tibi" = "As long as I was pleasing to you"
"Horazische Ode" = "Horatian Ode"
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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in Latin by Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65 BCE - 8 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina (Odes), in 3. Liber III (Book III), no. 9
This text was added to the website: 2026-02-03
Line count: 30
Word count: 182