
“Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus” is the opening of Catullus 5, the poem in which Catullus asks Lesbia to live and love with him and to value all the gossip of stern old men at a single penny. The poem goes on to ask for kisses: a thousand, then a hundred, then a thousand more.
Vīvāmus, amēmus and aestimēmus are all present subjunctives used as invitations: “let us live”, “let us love”, “let us value”. Assis, “at a penny”, is a genitive of value. The next sentence gives the reason: suns can set and return, but for us, once the brief light has set, there is one everlasting night to be slept. Both sentences are below.
Catullus · Carmen 5
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