Sol 5.6

  1. The eyes of fair maidens ravage minds,

    assailing their lovers with their thorns.

  2. They shoot at hearts that love has set pounding,

    then take careful aim from afar with spears.

  3. God! What havoc eyes wreak, and what deeds they do—

    they are the greatest cause of love:

  4. stabbing, potent, murderous,

    yet only through dark pupils and arching lids.

  5. The languor of their eyelids aided them, and they gained mastery;

    they invaded, having captured even the lions of the wild.

  6. Wounding—yet without any limb to wound;

    sorceresses—yet without a book of spells.

  7. With their languishing glance they broke kings—and many a youth

    have they warred against while he stood in the prayer niche.

  8. Treachery is an ingrained trait within their nature,

    and theirs is a pride too lofty to heed reproach.

  9. In them God displays power despite their frailty:

    from the thresholds they strike at people's breasts.

Sol 5.6