by Abū-Muḥammad Muṣliḥ al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī (1184 - 1273?), as Saadi
Translation by Edwin Arnold (1832 - 1904)
Eyes softly bold!
Language: English  after the Persian (Farsi)
Eyes softly bold! Bodice bound with gold! Girdle clasping what love would enfold! Light glancing feet Which meet -- part -- and meet! Dancing, dancing the measure sad and sweet: Dance, dance still! Dance, if you will, All the night long as the slow stars dance! All the night long I would hear your Indian song, And watch you, dark Star! in a trance.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Edwin Arnold (1832 - 1904), no title, appears in The Book of Love: Being The "Ishk" or Third Chapter of The "Bostcan" of the Persian Poet Sa'di: Embodied in a Dialogue Held in the Garden of The Taj Mahal, at Agra [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Persian (Farsi) by Abū-Muḥammad Muṣliḥ al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī (1184 - 1273?), as Saadi [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Frederic Hymen Cowen, Sir (1852 - 1935), "The Nautch Girl's Song", published 1898 [ voice and piano ], from Third Set of Six Songs, London: Joseph Williams [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-04-08
Line count: 12
Word count: 62