1. He knew not, when the herald brought the news,
That time for what we hope is ample yet;

2. So visited her as a lion in the dark,
Beneath him his steed vanquished and sword wet,

3. Until the standards rose, obscuring him,
And the sun shone, exalted and bright set.

4. He came with fortune, though some it made weep;
They knew not sweet elixir is drunk but;

5. Let it make the garden of her being bloom,
With buds the necklaces, its drops plentiful.

6. Behold your father! See, Egypt lies exposed!
You are Joseph come, and brethren gather.

7. Yet no treachery did they plan, nor treaties break,
No rancor in their hearts, no plots they nurtured.

8. O brother in munificence, child of glory!
No land but speaks of you or craves your sword!

9. For your bounty my hopes lifelong sacrifice,
And dreams from seas of poetry difficult draw.

10. Those who say my verse comes slow, though in it
I craft fine meaning, are swift to take but dense.

11. When with my verse they mix their own, like birds
They twitter or recite what they have heard.