How many a blooming bough in glee-girl’s hand is fain ✿ As lute to ’witch great souls by charm of cunning strain!
She sweeps tormenting lute strings by her artful touch ✿ Wi’ finger-tips that surely chain with endless chain.
Then she tightened its pegs and tuned its strings and laying it in her lap, bended over it as mother bendeth over child; and it seemed as it were of her and her lute that the poet spoke in these couplets:—
Sweetly discourses she on Persian string ✿ And Unintelligence makes understand.
And teaches she that Love’s a murtherer, ✿ Who oft the reasoning Moslem hath unmann’d.
A maid, by Allah, in whose palm a thing ✿ Of painted wood like mouth can speech command.
With lute she stauncheth flow of Love; and so ✿ Stops flow of blood the cunning leach’s hand.
Then she preluded in fourteen different modes and sang to the lute an entire piece, so as to confound the gazers and delight her hearers. After which she recited these two couplets:—
The coming unto thee is blest: ✿ Therein new joys for aye attend:
Its blisses are continuous ✿ Its blessings never, never end.