Sol 6.1

  1. Woe to my soul, which

    brought calamity upon me!

  2. I wasted away with love, and never

    saw anything but coldness.

  3. And I betrayed my husband, in whom

    lie my wishes and hope,

  4. and my paternal cousin, who

    honored the claims of loyalty,

  5. my helper in youth,

    until I grew weary of ease,

  6. who bestowed on me jewels

    and adornments—whatever I wished.

  7. And how many a kindness she has shown

    for which heaven praises her!

  8. How excellent her kindness,

    and how vile this repayment!

  9. It is Roshkim's right to

    turn me away with contempt.

  10. He did not approve that, for him,

    I had offered my husband as a sacrifice.

  11. He would not let me be wanton;

    how noble this refusal!

  12. Nobility amid wealth,

    and jealous honor with modesty.

  13. So how could it be forgotten,

    this faithfulness of his, by Mathilde?

  14. For indeed her heart is

    the purest of women's hearts.

  15. So if there is any solace

    in my anguish, or any comfort,

  16. it lies in my ruse against

    Roshkim on the day of our meeting,

  17. and in the face veil with which

    I sought to conceal myself.

  18. I conveyed to him the longing of one

    for whom misery had been decreed.

  19. He thought me a messenger

    from her, to complain of suffering,

  20. and he did not know that I

    was the one in sorrow and tears.

  21. Shall I seek, after what

    my heart has wrought, to live on?

  22. And whoever loved me has come

    to say, 'I am quit of her.'

  23. Not one person is left to me

    who fears that I might be harmed.

  24. My husband and my family, in

    hating and expelling me, are alike.

  25. An outcast, whenever

    I walk, I encounter hostility.

  26. My illness is incurable, and this

    poison—what an excellent remedy!

Sol 6.1