Classic Poem

Oh, listen, passer dear!
Behold me, I am here,
Deftly oiled, and lithe and supple, with red roses on my breast.
Bid me to thee by a sign;
Give me gold and I am thine,
For I long by valiant warriors to be petted and caressed!

I have amulets and rings,
And a host of peerless things
In my perfumed house in Malqua; come, sweet passer, to my home!
There are lilies in my hair,
And my bosom, round and bare,
Is far whiter than pale Tanit beaming softly on the foam.

I have spices and rich paint,
And my limbs are without taint;
I will sing for thee and play thee merry tunes on tambourines.
I will dance to lend new fire
To the pangs of thy desire,
And will fill thy soul with cloyment 'mid the garlands of my screens.

Lo! behold me in my pride!
For my rosy cheeks are dyed,
And my feet are cased in sandals all besprent by sparkling stones,
And within my pleasant house
For a night thou canst carouse,
Softly pleasured by the music of the flutes of asses' bones.

I have soothing paste and wine
From the scented lotus-vine,
I have marble baths and unguents to refresh the wearied frame;
For the ravishments that swarm
In my body white and warm
Are as sweet as waving frondage and as subtle as a flame.

I can resurrect thy fire
By the thrumming of my lyre;
In my nudity delicious I will make thy spirit sigh,
For all doleful sorrow slips
From the fragrance of my lips,
And all pains and sad vexations on my perfumed body die.