Advice from Hafiz

Last Night, as Half Asleep I Dreaming Lay  

My friend, before you wander in Love’s street,

Do not forget to take with you a guide—

So perilous for your undirected feet

The twists and turns once you are inside.



Yet many wonders you will meet with there,

And of the many this one not the least—

That there the timid deer it is pursues

The lion, and pulls down the lordly beast.



And when in doubt of what to do or think,

Hafiz, raise high, drain deep, the golden cup:

Take counsel of the vine, Hafiz, and drink

At once the wine and the dilemma up.



Poor Hafiz! After all, the spring is gone,

The roses and the nightingales are going;

Yet of the roses you have plucked not one,

Nor drunk one cup of wine, for all its flowing.

Ode 44



I can no longer call...