Lesbia, you ask how many kisses of yours
would be enough and more to satisfy me.
As many as the grains of Libyan sand
that lie between hot Jupiters oracle,
at Ammon, in resin-producing Cyrene,
and old Battiades sacred tomb:
or as many as the stars, when night is still,
gazing down on secret human desires:
as many of your kisses kissed
are enough, and more, for mad Catullus,
as cant be counted by spies
nor an evil tongue bewitch us.
How Many Kisses: to Lesbia
written byGaius Valerius Catullus
© Gaius Valerius Catullus