Sol 5.6

  1. Have you considered, O you of sweet graces,

    what you do to minds and hearts?

  2. You have indeed wronged me and meant to; your sta—

    —ture, O graceful being, is straight and true.

  3. O you upon whose cheek have blossomed

    the captivation of minds and the roses of bowers;

  4. sheathed within the lashes of your eye is

    a keen sword with which you cleave chains.

  5. And from your tresses there came a ni—

    —ght, thronged with the hosts of darkness,

  6. while dawn shone from your bro—

    —w, radiant, with no veil between.

  7. And in your face the moon shone bri—

    —ght, measured out through all its stations.

  8. You tormented, O sweet-lipped one,

    the passion-stricken heart, to no avail.

  9. You betrayed me—pardon me, but the swo—

    —rd of treachery slays the treacherous.

  10. By your very life, I have nothing

    to distract me from remembering you, beloved.

  11. In love, I am the Jacob of your lo—

    —ve, despite every liar and reproacher.

  12. O Joseph of beauty, whose

    loveliness is too rare to have an equal,

  13. the peoples of mankind know your reno—

    —wn, as do clans and tribes.

  14. O you, unique in beauty,

    if only you would show kindness to one love-worn.

  15. You went too far; if only you had left reco—

    —nciliation even a few means.

  16. Do you think that beauty will re—

    —main? Such are a fool's dreams.

  17. You shall see the fresh brocade, its we—

    —ft torn and all its bonds ripped apart.

  18. And along the borders of your ro—

    —sy cheek, the night of your hair is at work.

  19. And you will say, “I once was”—when my wai—

    —st, balanced in every motion, has grown bent;

  20. like a bow has become the spear of my sta—

    —ture. Ah, that delusion is vain.

  21. Then the habitual liar will shun you,

    while the man of virtue will accept you.

  22. So honor the worth of the no—

    —ble: the Just Reckoner is never heedless.

  23. Take heed: He alone abides fore—

    —ver; all besides Him perishes and passes.

Sol 5.6