Return! That to a heart



RETURN! that to a heart wounded full sore
Valiance and strength may enter in; return!
And Life shall pause at the deserted door,
The cold dead body breathe again and burn.
Oh come! and touch mine eyes, of thy sweet grace,
For I am blind to all but to thy face.
Open the gates and bid me see once more!

Like to a cruel Ethiopian band,
Sorrow despoiled the kingdom of my heart
Return! glad Lord of Rome, and free the land;
Before thine arms the foe shall break and part.
See now, I hold a mirror to mine eyes,
And nought but thy reflection therein lies;
The glass speaks truth to them that understand.

Night is with child, hast thou not heard men say?
'Night is with child! what will she bring to birth?'
I sit and ask the stars when thou'rt away.
Oh come! and when the nightingale of mirth
Pipes in the Spring-awakened garden ground,
In Hafiz' heart shall ring a sweeter sound,
Diviner nightingales attune their lay.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 12, 2023

52 sec read
93

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCCA DEDEFFD GHGHIIG
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 903
Words 174
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7

Shams al-Din Hafiz

Khwāja Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī (Persian: خواجه شمس‌‌الدین محمد حافظ شیرازی‎), known by his pen name Hafez (حافظ, Ḥāfeẓ, 'the memorizer; the (safe) keeper' and as "Hafiz", was a Persian poet who "lauded the joys of love and wine but also targeted religious hypocrisy". more…

All Shams al-Din Hafiz poems | Shams al-Din Hafiz Books

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