University of Virginia Library


3

Woman

Four pomegranates grow for me,
On my true love's silver tree.
One I have tasted, and my mouth
Is filled with fragrance of the South;
One, which burns with holy red,
He shall give me when we wed;
The third from its branch shall be torn
When our little son is born;
The fourth, which is most delicate,
Kinder than Love, sharper than Fate,
Fairer than fruit of Samarkand,
You shall put in my dead hand.