Herodias

An excerpt from a play, not yet published, by the poet Youssef al-Khal

Herodias:
Anoint me with perfume, Tamar — in my body there is a wedding feast
and in my ribs a hum of merriment;
and here, in my braids, the night kept its vigil
and the morning wandered lovestruck behind my veil;
and strew over my bed clusters of roses
and pour the wines into my cups:
this is a night that surpasses my nights,
rising above delight that is allowed —
in my embrace, in the swaying of my sides,
in the warmth of my rapture and my yearning...
For I sway drunken at the foot of desire
in abjection, with lowered wing.
Anoint me, Tamar... for perfume in the veins
has the course of joy in souls;
and leave me to love — a flock of butterflies
fluttering upon the cheeks of the daisies,
and a favor wherein the soul has reveled
and bathed, like rapture in wine:
so my wiles shall be, to Herod, a shadow
in the evening and a star in the morning,
and existence pass away in a burning tremor
upon the blaze of an insistent kiss...

Tamar:
May the perfumes of the land of Lebanon be your ransom,
and of every verdant garden:
a lily that let its wrap slip in the morning
and lay bare upon the bed of light,
winking at the sun whenever it looked upon it
and tugging at the breeze in temptation;
and virgin daisies bathed in light,
swaying before it in pride,
setting out with coquettish steps, till the earth
was a dewy shimmer and a procession of loveliness;
and an anemone whose cheek bled with longing,

so it wrapped itself in a robe of red
and bent its neck upon the soul's honor
and let its tears flow in proud disdain;
and lavender, as though...

Herodias — Enough, Tamar!
Heap more perfumes upon my tresses:
had Eve, in Adam's day, my power to tempt,
my longing to range the open field,
my seizing of what God's law forbids
as lawful, crowned with high honors?
Had Sarai a share of what my self was given,
while my favor dictates its terms to time?
Had Rachel the flush of love that is in my heart,
the brocade of youth in my beauty,
my outracing the roses to the light at dawn
with fresh loveliness and lawful fragrance?
Had Esther my splendor — the sun turning back
before my countenance, the magic of my majesty,
and kings bowing captive to a fingertip
that desire has schooled in humbling?
Had Jezebel the interloper anything
of the virgin's disdain in my advance,
of my loftiness — as though the world were created
by my right hand, and a gift of my left?

Tamar:
No, by my Lord...

Herodias — Had Solomon seen me,
would not his heart have gone mad for my charms,
and he drawn near, humbled, kissing the ground
where I trod, and the shadow of my sandals?
No Shulammite would claim his love after me,
nor the thousand daughters of the court;
he would sing verse inspired as revelation,
singular as a passing fancy of my mind...

Tamar — Alas, my soul! Is this a question of yours,
or a certainty wrapped in modesty?
You are beauty's mirror: to your cheeks
the day retires at evening,
and on your amber hair the night
has dozed, in a lull of its journey,
and cast its shadow: so your eyelids darkened
and grew tender as a bird at dusk
that crowds the horizon, astray, and gathers
the wind in bewilderment and weariness;
till every glance of yours is a promise
of a meeting, and a shying away from meeting...

Herodias — (interrupting) And my brow, Tamar?
Tamar — A morning star!
Herodias — And my mouth?
Tamar — A cup of coral wine!
Herodias — And my lips?
Tamar — Strands of crimson beads
that some artist hid away!
Herodias — And my breasts?
Tamar — Two caskets of ivory!
Herodias — And my neck?
Tamar — A scepter!
Herodias — And my figure?
Tamar — An elder tree!

And when you gird the wrap about you, there is a hillock
of lilies and a terrace of daisies,
and it is as though your legs were the two pillars
of a temple whose making Lebanon lavished.