1. My darling, I was enchanted when
Your slender body swayed like a delicate branch,

2. And you came forward clad in velvet;
The silk flowed like water.

3. You seemed in the darkness like a
Bright full moon appearing,

4. And your eyes are two stars of good fortune
Shining in the sky of beauty.

5. This gown embraces your figure
Passionately, as a perfumed shirt would do,

6. And I envy it for holding you—
Though by that I have become jealous of it.

7. Forgive the jealousy of a passionate lover;
It is best for man to find excuses.

8. The billowing of that silk is like
A magic that dazzles the keenest eyes,

9. Adorned as it is by its shimmer
As smiles adorn cheeks.

10. But no! That silk merely borrowed
Some of your beauty for a while.

11. However thickly it is woven, your light
Is clearer and more radiant.

12. Like the moon’s brilliance piercing
The clouds, refusing to be obscured.

13. Winter has passed, and with spring here
Your beauty shines forth again,

14. Revealing charms too subtle to express,
Tempting men and shaming nymphs.

15. It takes the heart until passion
Threatens to let it take flight.

16. That is how the blooming meadows
Are when spring comes to them with tidings,

17. Diffusing the fragrance of flowers and brightening
The boughs, enticing the birds.

18. You are the meadows, you are the spring,
You are my life and my joy.

19. Remove this gown so I can exult
In you openly, and be grateful.

20. But after a year it will repeat
Its mischief, and I will be jealous again.