Egyptian Love Songs
Collected by Scribes over 3000 years ago, and laid in tombs so that they might be sung by departed souls in Paradise.
From: Unknown To: 1000 B.C.E.
Location: Egypt
From Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie, 1907.
Egyptian Love Songs
(Collected by Scribes over 3000 years ago, and laid in tombs so that they might be sung by departed souls in Paradise.)
The Wine of Love
Oh! when my lady cometh, And I with love behold her,
I take her to my beating heart And in mine arms enfold her;
My heart is filled with joy divine
For I am hers and she is mine.
Oh! when her soft embraces
Do give my love completeness,
The perfumes of Arabia Anoint me with their sweetness;
And when her lips are pressed to mine
I am made drunk and need not wine.
The Snare of Love
(Sung by a girl snarer to one she loves.)
With snare in hand I hide me,
I wait and will not stir;
The beauteous birds of Araby
Are perfumed all with myrrh—
Oh, all the birds of Araby,
That down to Egypt come,
Have wings that waft the fragrance
Of sweetly smelling gum!
I would that, when I snare them,
Together we could be,
I would that when I hear them
Alone I were with thee.
If thou wilt come, my dear one,
When birds are snared above,
I’ll take thee and I’ll keep thee
Within the snare of love.
The Sycamore Song
A sycamore sang to a lady fair, And its words were dropping like honey dew, "Now ruby red is the fruit I bear All in my bower for you.
"Papyri green are my leaves arrayed, And branch and stem like to opal gleam; Now come and rest in my cooling shade The dream of your heart to dream.
"A letter of love will my lady fair Send to the one who will happy be, Saying: ‘Oh, come to my garden rare And sit in the shade with me!
"'Fruit I will gather for your delight, Bread I will break and pour out wine, I’ll bring you the perfumed flow'rs and bright On this festal day divine.'
"My lady alone with her lover will be, His voice is sweet and his words are dear— Oh, I am silent of all I see, Nor tell of the things I hear!"
The Dove Song
I hear thy voice, O turtle dove—The dawn is all aglow—Weary am I with love, with love, Oh, whither shall I go?
Not so, O beauteous bird above, Is joy to me denied... For I have found my dear, my love, And I am by his side.
We wander forth, and hand in hand Through flow'ry ways we go—I am the fairest in the land, For he hath called me so.
Jealousy
My face towards the door I’ll keep Till I my love behold, With watching eyes and list'ning ears I wait... and I turn cold, I sigh and sigh; He comes not nigh.
My sole possession is his love All sweet and dear to me; And ever may my lips confess My heart, nor silent be. I sigh and sigh; He comes not nigh.
But now... a messenger in haste My watching eyes behold... He went as swiftly as he came. "I am delayed", he told. I sigh and sigh; He comes not nigh.
Alas! confess that thou hast found One fairer far than me. O thou so false, why break my heart With infidelity? I sigh and sigh; He'll ne'er come nigh.
The Garden of Love
Oh! fair are the flowers, my beloved, And fairest of any I wait. A garden art thou, all fragrant and dear, Thy heart, O mine own, is the gate.
The canal of my love I have fashioned, And through thee, my garden, it flows—Dip in its waters refreshing and sweet, When cool from the north the wind blows.
In our beauteous haunt we will linger, Thy strong hand reposing in mine—Then deep be my thoughts and deeper my joy, Because, O my love, I am thine.
Oh! thy voice is bewitching, beloved, This wound of my heart it makes whole— Ah! when thou art coming, and thee I behold, Thou'rt bread and thou'rt wine to my soul.
Love’s Pretence
With sickness faint and weary All day in bed I'll lie; My friends will gather near me And she'll with them come nigh. She'll put to shame the doctors Who'll ponder over me, For she alone, my loved one, Knows well my malady.
Mackenzie, Donald A. Egyptian Myth and Legend. Gresham Publishing Company, 1907.
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