Totum Cor Meum ("All My Loving" in Latin)

The British Invasion, Latinized.

[Editor’s Note: The spirit of the early Beatles lives in this simple love song, which John Lennon looked back on as a “damn good piece of work.” And this Latin translation, by the great Luke Henderson, is a damn good piece of work too, keeping the spirit and staying pretty close to the letter of this song. It’s easy to sing, though close study of the original will help with phrasing. After the first verse the song feels like it’s going into the chorus, which gives the drop-back into the second verse some punch. It runs for a minute and then repeats itself; in the Beatles version this is made more interesting by making the first iteration a solo and the second a duet.]

TOTUM COR MEUM (ALL MY LOVING)

(The Beatles) (McCartney) (tr. Henderson) [1963]

oculis osculabor clausis, præstolabor.

memento me semper fidum.

a procul amans te, scribam quotidie,

atque ad te cor mittam meum.

simulo me amare te, te basiare,

et somnium spero verum.

a procul amans te, scribam quotidie,

atque ad te cor mittam meum.

[Chorus]

totum meum cor mittam ad te,

totum meum cor mittam ad te.

oculis osculabor clausis, præstolabor.

memento me semper fidum.

a procul amans te, scribam quotidie,

atque ad te cor mittam meum.

simulo me amare te, te basiare,

et somnium spero verum.

a procul amans te, scribam quotidie,

atque ad te cor mittam meum.

[Chorus]

totum meum cor mittam ad te,

totum meum cor mittam ad te.

totum meum — totum meum — totum meum — cor mittam ad te.