1. My night was long as the Pleiades climbed high,
Scarcely had they begun to descend into the valley of their star,

2. When I resolved to watch them as if I were assigned,
To attend them, unwilling for sleep until they were gone.

3. Star by star they hid as dawn drew near,
My eyes observed the last stars at the night's end.

4. Apparitions of stars they seemed, but at daybreak
Phantoms of the night vanished as the morning shone.

5. I fear the suddenness of parting without warning,
The fates might allow this, dashing hopes never to return.

6. And I knew when the living broke camp,
With horrifyingseparation that leaves the head grey.

7. And the clear voiced caller summoned you to depart
As the sun of day had inclined to set.

8. And in the caw of the raven he made known his desolation
In the evening when the boughs of the wild plum tree bent down.

9. And in the birds aloft when they passed by us,
Yet the birds do naught but pass and sweep on.

10. And I almost succumbed at dawn to my passion,
I had to restrain myself wanting to rise and to ride away.

11. But how could one forget his beloved, having surpassed
The forty year mark, and known many places?

12. What would come of this matter became clear,
Parting from him took on a hue of grey hair.

13. Do I gather longing if destination brings them near to me,
And rejection if they avoid me and keep apart?

14. When the causes of passion manifest and split open,
The staff of separation cannot reach the goal of a disheveled lover.

15. And how can one turn away a sensitive soul from passion,
Who cannot be blamed if infatuated and disturbed?

16. I prolong my avoidance of them without hatred,
Merely fearing harm and seeking to avoid trouble.

17. Indeed, I see no neighbor excusing himself
As one obeyed, nor as a disheveled neighbor blamed.