ringes shred,
Such wounds it had to bear;
Would that it were the comb, to touch her head,
To tend her perfumed hair!

Long have I known that it was thy design
To burn my soul outright;
O may at least the happy fate be mine
To be the Tavern light!

ZAFAR.

XLIII.

Mine eyes were shut
And yet I saw the shining vision gleam;
Now that mine eyes are opened, know I not
Was it a thought that held me--or a dream?

Long to myself I said--It will be well,
When I can see her, I will tell my pain:
Now she is here, what is there left to tell?
No griefs remain.

Faithless she is to me, and pitiless,
Despotic and tyrannical she is,
I looked for love, I looked for tenderness,
I leant on vain impossibilities.

I listened to thy voice that stole to me
Across the curtain where thou satst apart,
Desire came like a restless ecstasy,
A sorcery that fell upon my heart.

When I had burst my prison, and was free,
I saw no fetters held me, and I found,
O Zafar, that these chains that shackle me
Are ties of self wherewith my soul is bound.

ZAFAR.

XLIV.

I care not if no rest nor peace remain,
I have my cherished pain,
I have my rankling love that knows no end,
And need no other friend.
I yearned with all my heart to hold her fast,
She laughed, and fled, and passed!
Lakhs of enchantments, scores of spells I wove,
But useless was my love.
I would have given my life to make her stay,
She went away, away, she went away.
Though I effaced myself in deed and thought
And brought myself to naught,
The dark and sundering curtain hangs between
I cannot pierce the screen.
And still I know behind the veil she hides,
And naught besides
In all this changing Universe abides!

ZAFAR.

XLV.

That I should find her after weary years,
And that mine eyes should keep from happy tears,--
That is not possible, this is not possible.

If she should come after these many days,
And if my wondering eyes forget to gaze--
That is not possible, this is not possible.

Sometimes I long to kiss my idol's face,
Sometimes to clasp her in my wild embrace--
That is not possible, this is not possible.

How can I let her seek my rival's door,
How can I bear the friends I loved before--
That is not possible, this is not possible.

O Zafar, does she bid me to return,
And dare I, for I tremble and I burn--
That is not possible, this is not