1. My night grew long, and today sickness has made itself at home with me,
Attacking the vital parts of my heart with deadly, unerring arrows—

2. This gazelle with the radiant cheeks, the graceful figure, and the soft
Words of greeting for whoever wins any bit of luck.

3. She brings down the very birds from the air when she speaks
In this manner, and tempers it with modesty.

4. Her curling tresses ravish hearts; her face is faultless
As the full moon rising through the ordered stars.

5. She has a noble gait like a polo pony cantering easily
Through the dunes, mantled with the dust.

6. Bright as the sun in a clear sky, breeze-swept
In the evening, redolent with fragrance.

7. Fair, slender, with a goodness beyond all other tastes—
An innocent fawn, blameless when accused.

8. Such, in brief, is my knowledge of her outward show.
What is kept hidden, I have no power to know.

9. Except that I see her clothes as a brimming
Cup, graced for fair measure upon that figure.

10. Whether you smile or frown, it will be gloriously done.
For good or ill, you will not be slighted, O Ideal.