CHRI STOPH ER MIDDLETON
( 14)
T he throat o f a gazelle has come to visit you
Under the black o f its ha ir the moon appears
Its eyes took shape whe n Babylon was enchanted
Its sa liva surpasses wine
Its chee ks put roses to shame
Its teeth have eclipsed pearls
(I5)
o
you who used to be the most sensitive of men
Before fa te lifted you up to let you fall
In love with a black woman
Who is altogether like the night, which hides beauty
And with d arkness obscures the radiance o f a face,
Nor in that night can any blond thing be seen,
Tell me, you being so well acquainted
With connoisseurs of extrinsic beauty,
By God , would anyone ever fall in love with a garden
Wh ere no roses are, no r blossoms of the orange tree?
( 16)
I will keep you j ealously
where no spies can see you
And from yourself, youl- time
and from the place you li ve
And though till the crack of doom
I hide you in my eyes
Still it will not be enough for me.
(1 7)
They threaten me beca use I wea r mou rning
For a lover of mine they put to death .
God have mercy on anyo ne who is libel-al with tears
Weeping for a man slaughtered by his ri vals,
And may the clouds of the afternoon,
With such generosity as was his,
Wate r th e earth wherever she may go.
beloved - exemp lars of spiritua l love.
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