Et passe loin de nous:
Mais le sentiment tendre
D’un heureux souvenir,
Dans mon cœur vient reprendre,
La place du plaisir.”
7. Ad Lesbiam. His mistress had asked Catullus how many kisses would satisfy him, and he answers that they must be as numerous as the sands of the sea—
“Aut quam sidera multa, cum tacet nox,
Furtivos hominum vident amores.”
These two lines seem to have been in the view of Ariosto, in the 14th canto of the Orlando—
“E per quanti occhi il ciel le furtive opre