Page:The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East, Volume 05.djvu/35

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THE HANGED POEMS


THE POEM OF IMRU-UL-QUAIS[1]

Stop, oh my friends, let us pause to weep over the remembrance of my beloved.
Here was her abode on the edge of the sandy desert between Dakhool and Howmal.

The traces of her encampment are not wholly obliterated even now;
For when the South wind blows the sand over them the North wind sweeps it away.

The courtyards and enclosures of the old home have become desolate;
The dung of the wild deer lies there thick as the seeds of pepper.

On the morning of our separation it was as if I stood in the gardens of our tribe,
Amid the acacia-shrubs where my eyes were blinded with tears by the smart from the bursting pods of colocynth.

As I lament thus in the place made desolate, my friends stop their camels;
They cry to me "Do not die of grief; bear this sorrow patiently."

Nay, the cure of my sorrow must come from gushing tears.
Yet, is there any hope that this desolation can bring me solace?

  1. This is supposed to be the oldest of the "hanged" poems. Like the others it shifts abruptly from theme to theme. and is full of poetic comparisons. Indeed, its author is said to have started this fashion, winning for himself the name of "The creator of images."