Sparrow, my maiden's delight

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by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE)

Translation © by Grant Hicks

Passer, deliciae meae puellae

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 [solacium]¹ sui doloris -
credo, ut tum gravis acquiescat ardor:
tecum ludere sicut ipsa possem
et tristis animi levare [curas]² 
[...]
tam gratum est mihi quam ferunt puellae,
pernici aureolum fuisse malum,
quod zonam soluit diu ligitam.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• R. Beckett • J. Novák

J. Novák sets lines 1-10
R. Beckett sets lines 11-14

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

¹ Novák: "solaciolum"
² Novák: "curas,/ et tristis animi levare curas./ Passer, deliciae meae puellae."

Text Authorship:

by Gaius Valerius Catullus (c84 BCE - 54 BCE), no title, appears in Carmina, no. 2 [author's text not yet checked 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 Ronald A. Beckett , "Atalanta picks up the apples", 2001, published 2008, lines 11-14 [ voice and piano ], from Three Latin Poems by Catullus, no. 2, Edition Arcady ; in Songs and Arias, Volume 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Michael Linton , "Passer, deliciae meae puellae ", first performed 2014 [ baritone and piano ], from Carmina Catulli, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Jan Novák (1921 - 1984), "Passer", lines 1-10, from Cantica latina, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in English, a translation by Richard Le Gallienne (1866 - 1947) , "Weep, Mother of Love!", appears in New Poems, first published 1910 [an adaptation] ; composed by John Woods Duke.
- Go to the text.

Other 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

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 68

Sparrow, my maiden's delight

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!
[...]
I find it as pleasing as, they say,
the fleet-footed maiden found the golden apple,
which loosed her long-bound girdle.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of titles:
"Atalanta picks up the apples" = "Atalanta picks up the apples"
"Passer" = "Sparrow"
"Passer, deliciae meae puellae " = "Sparrow, my maiden's delight"

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.
Note for line 13: the "fleet-footed maiden" is Atalanta, who according to myth ran so swiftly that no man could outrun her. She vowed that she would marry only a suitor who could best her in a footrace, and Hippomenes did just that by distracting her during their race using golden apples that the goddess Aphrodite had given him.

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
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-09-02
Line count: 14
Word count: 98