Classic Poem

I had no wish to be stone-hearted
and drive the dreams from her eyes.
Desire urged me to wake her
but my hand shrank from reaching out to her.
Sleep seemed to find joy in her eyelids
and would not depart from them.
Woe to my heart! How was it not destroyed
by the sight of her, as she tossed in sleep
Sighing from what was in her heart;
Desire! Do not perturb her breasts!
There is sorrow enough for me when I see
her hair fall about her cheeks, kissing their softness
I envy it as she rests in sleep;
it excites me as it nestles on her arms.
I watch with a lover's yearning,
all patience at an end. I lean over her,
Delicacy of feeling holds me back. I move away
in awe, longing to kneel at her feet.
My soul is torn between reverence and desire.
I remain perplexed between the two!
Did my desire reach its utmost bounds?
For I fell enraptured upon her lips.