1. I say to him though I did not pant with exertion,
Nor affect pretty turns of speech and wit,

2. "My shirt is the ransom for you, whatever part of it you wish to rend;
But my shirt cannot ransom anything contemptible.

3. For through you I live in a blissful meadow
Where I am pampered with lush greenery.

4. And from the flowers of your favor in springtime,
And from the fruits of your words in autumn.

5. And though I have consorted with many a tribe,
I have chosen you as the most familiar of them all.

6. And though I am no peer of yours in poetry,
The essence of the game is to know one's partner.

7. And when you mount the most difficult of meters,
You outpace all others on your own, with no need of a companion.

8. And I possess a bushel, and in me is the lessening of a little measure,
Yet here is my bushel along with your scant measure.

9. So if you visit me, my awe of you will be from
love,