Llyas Abu Shaaka
I love You
I love you more than human heart can bear
More than a poet dreams or lover feels
You are the perfumed cloud from heaven sent
To rain upon me your enchanted dew;
I feel your heart, your veins flow into mine,
No gap to let the impure world creep in;
My heart confronts your heart, finding its twin,
As two cups meet in one ethereal vow;
In us when wine is made to mix with wine,
A blend of perfume, breeze, and dew combine;
My inspiration dwells within your eyes,
And swells lip on lip instructs my art;
For us the fire rages, though unfed,
Though we are calm, a storm erupts within.
….Llyas Abu Shaaka
translated by Adnan Haydar and Michael Beard
Lebanese poet Llyas Abu Shaaka, (1903-1947), led the Romantic current in Lebanon in the thirties and forties, liberating the expression of emotion in poetry. His influences included classical Arabic poetry, the Bible, the North Mahjar Romantics and French Romantics.
From Modern Arabic Poetry, An Anthology edited by S K Jayyusi.
