1. You and the cup are in my hand,
So to whom will you belong tomorrow?

2. She was enraged at my words,
In rebellion and defiance.

3. She turned her face away,
Claiming I was insincere in my passion,

4. A liar in my youth,
And a fraud in my overtures.

5. I said, "Forgive me, it was
Just a flight of poetic fancy."

6. Peace was made, and
My lips met her sweet mouth.

7. My heart submitted willingly
After that rebellion.

8. So we enjoyed a moment
Of renewed loyalty,

9. Between the sound of splashing water
And the songs of birds.

10. Then my doubts returned,
And I was left confused.

11. My silent love alarmed her,
So she rebuked my apathy.

12. She said, "Love is eternal."
I said, "Nothing is eternal."

13. "Will you still love me
When my glory and power fade?"

14. She immediately replied,
"It's you I want, not your glory."

15. I said, "Will you keep your promise
If fortune fails me?"

16. She tenderly answered,
"You are forever my master."

17. Once I shone like the sun, rich,
Now I am poor as a beggar.

18. "Good," I said laughing,
"My angel and my joy."

19. But will your love for me endure,
Radiant and fresh?

20. If time should bend me,
And grey tinge my black hair,

21. And the bloom of youth fade
Like lightning in clouds.

22. She said, "Doubt is the bane of love,
So cast it away and be happy.

23. My love is not just for your youth,
You are peerless to me.

24. But for your noble character
And pure intentions."

25. I said, "Yet doubt gnaws
At my heart and mind.

26. And when grim death takes me
And I am gone tomorrow,

27. My body rots in a grave
In that endless darkness,

28. With no loved one or enemy,
While worms feed on my flesh,

29. And you walk by at dawn
And see only barren bones,

30. Scattered by decay
Like logs burnt away.

31. Will you still love me then,
For my spirit and passion?"

32. At that she cried, her tears
Flowing like a shattered vessel.

33. "How wrongly you think of me!
O misguided one, come to your senses!

34. I call the dawn as witness,
Gushing on meadows of daisies,

35. I call the night that clothes me
In the gown of infinity,

36. I call the rain that nourishes,
The field that flourishes,

37. The winged creatures,
Singing or on the nest,

38. The flowers and their fragrance
On the slopes and in the valleys.

39. I call the earth and the sky,
I call God, my Creator as witness:

40. I will love you as you see,
For passion and tenderness.

41. I will whisper to you at dawn,
The gentle time of rest.

42. And whisper at dusk
And the twilight motorcade.

43. Doffing her mantle in the countryside,
The night comes in, chilled.

44. The streams sing to her
Like hymns in a temple.

45. And the birds come to her
To warm their feathers.

46. I stay up, keeping the night company
With troubled heart.

47. And when I sleep, your phantom
Creeps up on my bed.

48. Desire for you fills me
Without end.

49. And I moan heavily in sorrow,
My sighing distressed.

50. We embraced for a moment
Like both my eyelids shut.

51. Yesterday escaped fleetingly.
Today is not forever.

52. Now I am alone with no beloved
In this solitude.

53. My friend, pass the wine,
And sing your melodies!

54. Whenever I say "my friend, replenish,"
Fill my cup again and again!

55. Do not ask what season it is,
Or when my birthday falls.

56. I still have my youth,
My glory, my power,

57. My rashness, my passion.
Only she left me

58. Two nights before our tryst.
She did not die, but went

59. Beyond my reach.
The plague of love is

60. It dwells in hearts and livers
So it is like an unlasting fire,

61. In flimsy kindling.