by Saadi Youssef (1934 - 2021)
Translation by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

A Woman
Language: English  after the Arabic (العربية) 
How will I drag my feet to her now?
In which land will I see her,
And on which street of what city
Should I ask about her?
And if I find her house,
Let’s say I do,
Will I ring the bell?
How should I answer?
And how will I stare at her face
As I touch the light wine
Seeping between her fingers.
How should I say hello…
And how will I take the pain
Of all these years?
Once twenty years ago,
In an air-conditioned train,
I kissed her all night through…

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Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):


Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-08-12
Line count: 17
Word count: 95