The Wine-Bearer
The Wine-Bearer
Hafiz of Shiraz
Come, wine-bearer, bring the bowl that glows with fire!
For love appeared easy at first, but showed its hardships.
By the secret of the night-breeze, by the soft morning wind,
By the fluttering of a heart in love — bring wine!
O thou who mak'st the heart thy dwelling-place,
What peace is mine when thou art far away?
The bird of my soul hath no rest but in thy branches;
Where thou art, there is my garden and my spring.
Hafiz, speak no more of sorrow's weight;
In the presence of the wine-cup, grief is light.
Let the cup go round — what matter is our end?
This world is but the shadow of a dream.
Verse breaks and indentation are preserved. Wrapped lines have a hanging indent. Width adapts to your screen.
c. 1370. Prose rendering by H. Wilberforce Clarke, 1891. · Translated by H. Wilberforce Clarke
