How often have I danced about the daughters of the sea when they rose from the depths and sat upon the rocks to delight in the sight of stars? How often have I heard the lover lament his passion for a lovely girl, and with him I have moaned and sighed? How often have I caroused with the rocks, though they are solid? Laughing I caressed them, yet they did not smile. How often have I rescued bodies from the chasms of the sea and carried them to the living? How often have I stolen pearls from the depths and given them to beautiful women?

In the silence of the night, when the phantoms of sleep have embraced all creatures, I watch, sometimes chanting, sometimes whispering. Woe is me, for watching by night has laid me waste. But I am a lover, and the essence of love is wakefulness.

This is my life, and that which is my life I must do.

SONGS OF THE RAIN

I am silver thread that the gods throw from on high. Nature seizes me and adorns the valleys.

I am lovely pearls fallen from Astarte’s crown. The daughter of the morning stole them and studded the fields with them.

I weep, and the hills smile. I am abased, and the flowers hold high their heads. The cloud and the field are lovers, and I am that servant who goes between them. I weep and quench the thirst of the one and cure the disease of the other.

The crash of thunder and lightning swords herald my approach. The rainbow is the triumphal arch at my journey’s end. This earthly life begins beneath the feet of angry matter and ends in the hands of peaceful death.

I rise from the heart of the lake and soar on ethereal wings. When I see a lovely garden, I descend and kiss its blossoms and embrace its branches.

In silence I drum my dainty fingertips upon the window glass, and that drumming blends into a song that perceptive souls can understand.

I am begotten by the heat of the air, yet I slay the air’s heat. Thus may a woman master a man through power she draws from man.

I am the sighing of the sea. I am the tears of the sky. I am the smile of the field. So too is love a sigh from the sea of emotions, a tear from the sky of love, and a smile from the field of the soul.

SONGS OF BEAUTY

I am love’s guide. I am the wine of the soul, the food of the heart. I am the flower that opened its heart when the day was young. A girl took me, kissed me, and placed me on her breast.