The youth he struck on the tambourine,
And nought was so bright as its golden sheen;
Of the hair of maidens twined together
Its strings, which he struck with a falcon’s feather.
The maid look’d down from the balcony,
And thus to her inner self said she:—
“O heaven! what a noble youth is he!
Would’st thou but give this youth to me,
I would make of the garden-pinks his bed,
I would lay fair roses under his head;
And waked by perfume, with what delight
Would he kiss the maiden’s forehead white!”
MAPLE TREE.
O thou brotherly maple tree!
Wilt thou be a friend to me?
Be a brother, and be a friend!
To the green grass thy branches bend,
That I may climb to their highest tip!
Look o’er the sea, and see the ship,
Where my lover sits smiling now;
He binds the turban round his brow,
And over his shoulders the shawl he flings,
Which is full of mine own embroiderings.
For three long years my hands inwove
Those golden flowers to deck my love:
The richest silk of the brightest dyes
I work’d for him, and now my eyes
Would fain my absent lover see:
Assist me, brotherly maple tree!
And tell me, if he thinks of me!
SEMENDRIAN BEAUTY.
Lovely maiden of Semendria! [152]
Turn again thy footsteps hither;
Let me see thy countenance!
Hail thee, youth! and health be with thee!
Hast thou visited the markets?
Saw’st thou there a sheet of paper?
Like that paper is my forehead.
Hast thou ever seen the vineyard,
Seen the rosy wine that flows there?
Youth! my cheeks that wine resemble.
Didst thou ever walk the meadows,
Hast thou seen the black sloe-berry?
That black sloe my eyes will paint thee:
Hast thou wandered near the ocean?
Hast thou seen the pijavitza? [153]
Like it are the maiden’s eye-brows.
SELF-ADMIRATION.
A maiden to the fountain went;
I saw her overhang the place—
And—she was young and innocent—
I heard her say with simple grace,
“Indeed she has a pretty face;
And if she had a spring-flower wreath,
How well ’twould sit upon her brow;
And she might hear the shepherd breathe,
Yes! thou shalt be my maiden now!
The shepherd—’midst his fleecy drove,
Goes like a moon the stars above.”