The metaphor of dulces Musarum fetus, which opens Catullus 65, inspired this work: it aims at investigating the ‘literary childbirth’ topos. The paper collects many examples (in primis from Latin, but also – to a lesser extent – Greek and Modern Literatures) to examine the role of specific words, expressions, literary uses in building, among centuries, the reference for a meta-literary Latin lexicon of parenthood.