Hafiz
Ghazal: Half-Way Through the Night
Half-way through the night
she came by the side of my bed
Wine in hand, blouse torn
and her hair all over the place
With laughter and tears in her eyes
mockery in her voice
She laid her head on me
and plaintively said
Asleep so soon my love?
you will be love's infidel
If you do not worship wine
when you are given it;
Forget all that talk of sin
whining hypocrites
Since the day the world began
we have had our fill
Whatever was put before us
we drank and we didn't care
If it was the wine of paradise
or the dregs of a bad year
O Hafiz many a vow like yours
has been broken beyond repair
By a girl with a flask of wine
and disorder in her hair.
Persian; trans. Geoffrey Squires
Hafiz, Persian, trans. Geoffrey Squires, Delos 2, 1968.