Living
Her Legs and Hips, Her Chin and Lips
Translated by E. J. W. Gibb (1905) · From A History of Ottoman Poetry, vol. IV (1905)
Her legs and hips, her chin and lips, are e'en to mine own heart;
In brief she's all, from head to foot, I ween, to mine own heart.
The youthful Magian proffered me both cup and ruby lip;
The Magian elder may he be! He's clean to mine own heart!
O Sphere, let not thine eye alight upon my Plenilune;
For mid the feast were mirth and cheer this e'en to mine own heart.
I'm fain to urge the plea of quaffing wine and, like the cup,
To kiss the sweetest mouth of my fair quean to mine own heart.
On truth, I may not quit the place where flows the wine, Nedim,
For mirth is to my mind, and joyous mien to mine own heart.
Codex Note
A wine-feast ghazel with a refrain on 'to mine own heart', in which the beloved is praised from head to foot and the poet asks the Sphere not to darken the feast.
Cite this poem
MLA
Nedim. “Her Legs and Hips, Her Chin and Lips.” Translated by E. J. W. Gibb. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/nedim/6/.
Chicago
Nedim. “Her Legs and Hips, Her Chin and Lips.” Translated by E. J. W. Gibb. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/nedim/6/.
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