IF THAT beauty of Shiraz would take my heart in hand, I would give for her dark mole Samarkand and Bokhara. Boy, bring me the wine that remaineth; for in Paradise thou wilt not see the banks of the water of Roknabad, nor the rose bower of our Mosella. Alas! those saucy lovely ones, those charming disturbers of our city, bear away patience from my heart as Turkomans their repast of plunder! Yet the beauty of our maidens is independent of our imperfect love! To a lovely face what need is there of paint of dyes, of mole or down? Speak to me of the musician and of wine, and search less into the secrets of futurity; for no one in his wisdom ever hath discovered, or ever will discover, that mystery. I can understand how the beauty of Joseph, which added new lustre to the day, withdrew Zulaikha from the veil of her modesty. Thou hast spoken evil of me, and I am contended -- God forgive thee! Thou has spoken well; for even a bitter word is beseeming, when it cometh from a ruby sugar-dropping lip. Give ear, O my soul, to good counsel; for better than their own souls love youths of a happy disposition the admonition of aged wise. Thou has composed thy ghazal; thou hast strung thy pearls: come and sing it sweetly, O Hafiz! for Heaven hath shed upon thy poetry the harmony of the Pleiades. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE ENKINDLED SPRING by DAVID HERBERT LAWRENCE IMAGINATION, FR. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE THE SOLITARY REAPER by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH A DRINKING SONG by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS WOONE SMILE MWORE by WILLIAM BARNES GIRL BEFORE A SHRINE by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON TO A BISON; AFTER READING A RECENT ARTICLE ON HIS PRESERVATION by PATRICK REGINALD CHALMERS |