A Song of Hafiz

THE

INDIAN ANTIQUARY,

A JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH

IN

ARCHÆOLOGY, HISTORY, LITERATURE, LANGUAGES, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, FOLKLORE, &c., &c., &c.

EDITED BY

JAS. BURGESS, M.R.A.S., F.R.G.S.

VOL. IV.—1875

[Bombay, Education Society's Press]

{Reduced to HTML by Christopher M. Weimer, November 2002}

p. 156

SONG OF HAFIZ.

The following translation, in the measure of the original, of the famous song of Hafiz, is taken from the Calcutta Review:—

Singer, O sing with all thine art,
Strains ever charming, sweetly new;
Seek for the wine that opes the heart,
Ever more sparkling, brightly new!
With thine own loved one, like a toy,
Seated apart in heavenly joy,
Snatch from her lips kiss after kiss,
Momently still renew the bliss!
Boy with the silver anklets, bring
Wine to inspire me as I sing;
Hasten to pour in goblet bright
Nectar of Shiraz, soul's delight,
Life is but life, and pleasures thine,
Long as thou quaff'st the quick'ning wine;
Pour out the flagon's nectary wealth,
Drink to thy loved one many a health.
Thou who hast stole my heart away,
Darling, for me thy charms display,
Deck and adorn thy youth's soft bloom,
Use each fair dye and sweet perfume.
Zephyr morn, when passing by
Bow'r of my love, this message sigh,
Strains from her Hafiz fond and true,
Strains still more sparkling, sweetly new!

{This song is available in another translation as selection X in Gertrude Bell's Teachings of Hafiz.}

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