Ode 192

THE days of distance and the nights apart

Are at an end;

All the long lonely winter of the heart

Is at an end:

No more forever shall the autumn gloom,

No more forever shall December freeze;

For lo! the sweet swift-footed April breeze

Fills all the world with fragrance and with bloom—

O my own love and friend,

Our grief is at an end!

Our grief is ended and our joys begun;

We have climbed the night—at last we reach the sun;

And the wide world from pole to pole is bright

With the effulgent face of our delight,

From shining end to end.

Deep in the scented shadow of your hair

I bow my head and weep for very bliss,

So happy I can scarce believe me there—

Too happy even to kiss;

For, love, O most desired and lovely friend,

Through your great locks I see the rising sun;

The solitary night is at an end,

Our morning is begun.

What care I if, for love of your fair face,

To the wide winds my work and place I throw!

My work is just to love you, and the place

Just where you are the only place I know.

Ah! to the wine-shop swiftly let us come,

With happy harp and loud exultant drum,

And with a mighty voice the Saki call—

“Deep cups and many, many cups for all!”

What matter how much money we shall spend,

For, O most lovely and beloved friend,

To-day the grief of HAFIZ, the long grief,

In a wild blessedness beyond belief

Is at an end.