Sol 6

  1. When I die, bury me beside the base of a grapevine,

    So its roots may water my bones in the earth.

  2. Do not bury me in the open desert, for I

    Fear that, once dead, I will never taste it again.

  3. I seek it early at sunrise, and sometimes

    Its evening draught comes to me after dusk.

  4. The cup and tawny wine deserve a favored one's care;

    Their rights, indeed, should not be neglected.

  5. I value it by the wineskin, and rightly so;

    It is brought to us; you draw it along, and we lead it.

  6. Yet alongside drinking wine, I have a protective zeal

    When the women of the tribe find their throats constricted,

  7. And are hurried from fastening their waist-wraps, distraught,

    Their voices stricken with grief, their mouths gone dry.

  8. I shield my neighbor from whatever befalls him,

    And honor guests who arrive by night with hospitality.

Sol 6