"Her lip-dews rival honey-sweets, that sweet virginity; * Keener than Hindi scymitar the glance she casts at thee: She shames the bending bough of Bán with graceful movement slow * And as she smiles her teeth appear with leven's brilliancy: When I compared with rose a-bloom the tintage of her cheeks, * She laughed in scorn and cried, 'Whoso compares with rosery My hue and breasts, granados terms, is there no shame in him? * How should pomegranates bear on bough such fruit in form or blee? Now by my beauty and mine eyes and heart and eke by Heaven * Of favours mine and by the Hell of my unclemency, They say 'She is a garden-rose in very pride of bloom'; * And yet no rose can ape my cheek nor branch my symmetry! If any garden own a thing which unto me is like, * What then is that he comes to crave of me and only me?"' They ceased not to laugh and play, whilst Hasan stood still a-watching them, forgetting meat and drink, till near the hour of mid-afternoon prayer, when the beauty, the chief damsel, said to her mates, "O Kings' daughters, it waxeth late and our land is afar and we are weary of this stead. Come, therefore, let us depart to our own place." So they all arose and donned their feather vests, and becoming birds as they were before, flew away all together, with the chief lady in their midst. Then, Hasan, despairing of their return, would have arisen and gone down into the palace but could not move or even stand; wherefore the tears ran down his cheeks and passion was sore on him and he recited these couplets, "May God deny me boon of troth if I * After your absence sweets of slumber know: Yea; since that sev'rance never close mine eyes, * Nor rest repose me since departed you! 'Twould seem as though you saw me in your sleep; * Would Heaven the dreams of sleep were real-true! Indeed I dote on sleep though needed not, * For sleep may bring me that dear form to view." Then Hasan walked on, little by little, heeding not the way he went, till he reached the foot of the stairs, whence he dragged himself to his own chamber; then he entered and shutting the door, lay sick eating not nor drinking and drowned in the sea of his solitude. He spent the night thus, weeping and bemoaning himself, till the morning, and when it morrowed he repeated these couplets,