1. I have tender words of longing that I cherish,
Yet I do not confide them to books or messengers.

2. I have letters borne on the folds of the breeze for you -
Search in them for traces of kisses.

3. I have kept my love for you from each bodily faculty,
From hearing, speech, and eyes.

4. My affection for you has not changed from what it was before;
Take my words about my early days.

5. Between you and me is something you know well:
A love kept safe from fault or boredom,

6. Affection with no pretense to adorn it,
That makes jewelry and necklaces superfluous.

7. You went away, and I have no intimacy to console me for your absence
Except recollection, hope, and making excuses.

8. I scheme in sleep to meet your phantom,
For lovers need their stratagems.

9. After my beloved, I have shunned poetry altogether,
So no gazelle diverts me, nor verses of mine.

10. When a critic ordered me to show patience, I said to him:
"Indeed, by your life, I am too busy for criticism!"

11. You asked of me something I do not possess;
take my oath, all I own, and whatever is still to come.

12. You prolonged reproach of a lover who will not accept it,
So it was more futile than tears shed on a ruined abode.

13. I confess I cannot show the patience you recommend,
And if I could, such patience would be no consolation.