Part 2 — TO LYDIA.
John Addington Symonds translation
No. 32.
Lydia bright, thou girl more white Than the milk of morning new, Or young lilies in the light! Matched with thy rose-whiteness, hue Of red rose or white rose pales, And the polished ivory fails, Ivory fails. Spread, O spread, my girl, thy hair, Amber-hued and heavenly bright, As fine gold or golden air! Show, O show thy throat so white, Throat and neck that marble fine Over thy white breasts incline, Breasts incline. Lift, O lift thine eyes that are Underneath those eyelids dark, Lustrous as the evening star 'Neath the dark heaven's purple arc! Bare, O bare thy cheeks of rose, Dyed with Tyrian red that glows, Red that glows. Give, O give those lips of love That the coral boughs eclipse; Give sweet kisses, dove by dove, Soft descending on my lips. See my soul how forth she flies! 'Neath each kiss my pierced heart dies, Pierced heart dies. Wherefore dost thou draw my life, Drain my heart's blood with thy kiss? Scarce can I endure the strife Of this ecstasy of bliss! Set, O set my poor heart free, Bound in icy chains by thee, Chains by thee. Hide, O hide those hills of snow, Twinned upon thy breast that rise, Where the virgin fountains flow With fresh milk of Paradise! Thy bare bosom breathes of myrrh, From thy whole self pleasures stir, Pleasures stir. Hide, O hide those paps that tire Sense and spirit with excess Of snow-whiteness and desire Of thy breast's deliciousness! See'st thou, cruel, how I swoon? Leav'st thou me half lost so soon? Lost so soon?
In rendering this lyric to Lydia, I have restored the fifth stanza, only one line of which,
"Quid mihi sugis vivum sanguinem,"
remains in the original. This I did because it seemed necessary to effect the transition from the stanzas beginning Pande, puella, pande, to those beginning Conde papillas, conde.
Among these more direct outpourings of personal passion, place may be found for a delicate little Poem of Privacy, which forms part of the Carmina Burana. Unfortunately, the text of this slight piece is very defective in the MS., and has had to be conjecturally restored in several places.