Three Latin Quatrains
 

Amemus sub noctem agentem,
enim desiderium meum cepit,
et volo in animam tuam immergere
hoc corpum meum patientum.

 Let us love under the fleeing night,
 for a longing desire has seized me,
 and I wish to drown in your soul
 this my long-suffering body.
 

Forma muliebris vere est mirabile,
sed videre animam siccat ex mea
nam iampridem, amorem promisi
feminae dulcissimae non venienti.

 Womanly beauty is truly wonderful,
 but to see it drains my soul from me,
 for long ago, I promised love
 to a sweetest woman who does not come.
 

Negleximus infinitum votum nostrum?
Amans non plus possum essere,
tamen tua facies mysterium mei,
et nomen non teneo in somnum cantere.

 Have we forgotten our unending vow?
 More loving I cannot be,
 yet your face is a mystery to me,
 and I have no name to sing in my sleep.
 

Copyright © 1998, Claudio R. Salvucci.  All Rights Reserved.

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