I[583]
Thy love has penetrated all within me
Like [honey?] plunged into water,
Like an odor which penetrates spices,
As when one mixes juice in ..........
[Nevertheless] thou runnest to seek thy sister,
Like the steed upon the battlefield,
As [the warrior rolls along] on the spokes of his wheels.
For heaven makes thy love
Like the advance of [flames in straw],
And its [longing] like the downward swoop of a hawk.
II[584]
Disturbed is the condition (?) of [my] pool.
[The mouth] of my sister is a rosebud.
Her breast is a perfume.
Her arm [is a ...... bough?]
[Which offers] a delusive seat.
Her forehead is a snare of meryu-wood.
I am a wild goose, a hunted one (?),
My gaze is at thy hair,
At a bait under the trap
That is to catch (?) me.
“Brother” and “sister” are terms frequently applied to lovers in these poems. Perhaps it arose from an ancient custom of marriages between brothers and sisters, which was perpetuated in the royal families of Egypt down to Roman times.
The description of the physical attractions of the loved one reminds one of Cant. 4:1-7.
III[585]
Is my heart not softened by thy love-longing for me?
My dogfoot-(fruit) which excites thy passion,—
Not will I allow it
To depart from me.
Although cudgeled even to the “Guard of the overflow,”[586]
To Syria, with shebôd-rods and clubs,
To Ethiopia, with palm-rods,
To the highlands, with switches,
To the lowlands, with twigs,
Never will I listen to their counsel,
To abandon longing.
IV[587]
The voice of the wild goose cries,
(Where) she has seized their bait,
(But) thy love holds me back,
I am unable to liberate her.
I must, then, take home my net!
What shall I say to my mother,
To whom formerly I came each day
Loaded down with fowls?
I shall not set the snares today
For thy love has caught me.
This is a vivid description of the power of the tender passion.
V[588]
The wild goose flies up and soars,
She sinks down upon the net.
The birds cry in flocks,
But I hasten [homeward],
Since I care for thy love alone.
My heart yearns for thy breast,
I cannot sunder myself from thy attractions.
This is a continuation of the preceding.
VI[589]
Thou beautiful one! My heart’s desire is
To procure for thee thy food as thy husband,
My arm resting upon thy arm.[590]
Thou hast changed me by thy love.
Thus say I in my heart,
In my soul, at my prayers:
“I lack my commander tonight,
I am as one dwelling in a tomb.”
Be thou but in health and strength,[591]
Then the nearness of thy countenance
Sheds delight, by reason of thy well-being,
Over a heart, which seeks thee (with longing).