Sol 5.6

  1. And a foursome of differing ways, brought together

    by a convivial gathering that gathers every kind of delight.

  2. We deck ears with pearls whose like

    makes ears vaunt themselves over the dark beauty of eyes.

  3. And they string together scattered words which

    are pearls—though no craftsman ever pierced them.

  4. A gazelle joined our revel; we had set snares

    for him, and now he is caught in those snares.

  5. From his glance he passes us a Babylonian draught,

    and lavishes intimacy on whoever dares to hope.

  6. So we draw his bough toward us, while the bough sways gracefully,

    and behold in him the full moon, even as the full moon rises.

  7. But for me, the gazelle would have become the wolf’s meal;

    yet the lion protects him, while the wolf goes hungry.

  8. The wolf wishes the lion might take the prey’s upper portion,

    while its haunches and shanks were left to him.

  9. So I told him, “Wolf, keep away from the fawn,

    for the fawn grazes in the lion’s own thicket.”

Sol 5.6