Love
Yea, Her Fair and Lucent Neck
Translated by E. J. W. Gibb (1905) · From A History of Ottoman Poetry, vol. IV (1905)
Yea, her fair and lucent neck as white as shining camphor glows;
Yea, her eyebrows and her eyes surpass the black the sable knows.
Dazzled every eye whene'er it looks upon her beauty's ray;
Ever and anon she cometh, stands, and like a glory shows.
Sheen they say and fragrant all thy dainty body bloometh fair.
All, from head to foot, like crystal bright, and lovesome like the rose.
Wherefore droops thine eye so languid, O thou wanton sweet and free?
One would deem thine eyen drunken since the Primal Banquet's close.
O my Princess, never shall I wish for others' grief or teen;
Ev'n as one of sickness smitten, groans Nedim for passion's woes.
Codex Note
A ghazel describing the beloved's neck, eyebrows and eyes, ending with the poet's own lovelorn sighs. Gibb's notes explain that the 'Primal Banquet' is a phrase borrowed from the mystic poets and used here conventionally.
Cite this poem
MLA
Nedim. “Yea, Her Fair and Lucent Neck.” Translated by E. J. W. Gibb. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/nedim/2/.
Chicago
Nedim. “Yea, Her Fair and Lucent Neck.” Translated by E. J. W. Gibb. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/nedim/2/.
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