ille mi par esse deo uidetur,
ille, si fas est, superare diuos,
qui sedens aduersus identidem te
spectat et audit
dulce ridentem, misero quod omnis
eripit sensus mihi: nam simul te,
lesbia, aspexi, nihil est super mi
vocis in ore
lingua sed torpet, tenuis sub artus
flamma demanat, sonitu suopte
tintinant aures, gemina et teguntur
lumina nocte.
otium, catulle, tibi molestum est:
otio exsultas nimiumque gestis:
otium et reges prius et beatas
perdidit urbes.

that man seems to be equal to a god,
that man, if it is right, seems to outdo the gods;
the one who, sitting opposite you again and again
sees you and hears you
laughing sweetly - a thing which steals
all sense from love-sick me. for as soon as
i caught sight of you, lesbia, i have nothing left
of voice in my mouth
but my tongue is sluggish, a slender flame
steals under my limbs, my ears ring
with their own sound, my twin eyes
are covered with night.
idleness, catullus, is a nuisance to you:
you exult and get too excited in idleness;
idleness has destroyed kings in the past
and prosperous cities.