Gaius Valerius Catullus, 51 "To Lesbia: In the style of Sappho"

Catullus can’t believe that someone could sit with Lesbia and not be dumbstruck by her, in this adaptation of a Sappho poem.

 

Tier 1

ille vir videtur mihi esse aequus deo,

 

ille, si possum id dicere, esse maior quam deos,

 

is qui sedet contra te, et spectat et audit te iterum iterumque dulce ridentem,

 

id quod eripit omnes sensus mihi:

 

nam simul vidi te, Lesbia, nihil est mihi,

 

sed lingua mea nihil sentit, tenuis flamma per membra mea it,

 

aures meae tintinnat sonitu suo, oculi mei nihil vident.

 

otium est molestum tibi, Catulle: in tempore otii tu exultas nimis multum et vis nimis multum:

 

otium et prius reges et laetas urbes perdidit.

 

Written by Robert Amstutz

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