Quam valde semper opto
Quam valde semper opto, pulchra Sylvia mea,
Que hic me jungis in lecto recente florens lilis
Sub solem callidum, qua una nos jubimus voluptates
Amantium, et nos replimus aquarum Lesbi fluminis.
Nimis recte scio que sorbillisti ab pocule
Dei in Olympo et recumbisti ad Jovi pedem;
Vitae rusticae nullae te nequeo corrumpere
Ab illa oblectatione caeleste. Dolor est meum
Ferre, solum, qua inter pascunt mea greges
Canto sperans que olim Musam meam me favertes.
How intensely do I ever wish, my lovely Sylvia,
That you would join me upon this verdant bed of blossoming lilies
Beneath the warm sun, where we together might enjoy the pleasures
Of lovers, and drink our fill of the waters of the Lesbian stream.
I know well, however, that you have drunk from the cup
Of the gods in Olympus and reclined at the foot of Jove;
To no simple life might I seduce you
From that heavenly recreation. That pain is mine
To bear, alone, amid my grazing flock, where
I sing, hoping that someday you will favor me, my Muse.