A Dream Uninterpreted

Miss Tal'at al-Rifa'i is one of the poetesses of al-Fayha. She studied law and took her licence degree in it, yet that subject did not keep her from poetry and art; nor has her present work — she is inspector of labor and social affairs in the Syrian Ministry of National Economy — held her back from sending forth the fragrant breaths of her breezes and publishing her tender meanings.

★

Do not blame me... in my eyelids is a dream... never interpreted,
Ripe as the red rose — nay, more luscious and more fresh;
Like the spring the brooks called to, and it burst forth,
The sun wove it from melted radiance, a mantle for the full moon...
I told it to the waves... and they fell down slain, breaking...
And I gave the sea to drink of it... and I saw the sea grow drunk!...
The soothsayer was helpless to read it... what does it recall?
Whenever I gathered it in, it went beyond the horizon, scattering
Magical pictures behind the sky, folded and unfurled...
And the night poured over them the tear of the bewildered star...

★

Carry me round the unknown, O skiff — the dawn has broken,
And as you sang, sail on with me... do not be forever steered;
Pass on with me: do not dread the tempest — the calm is more perilous!...
Should my night stretch long upon the sea, I would not have the night made shorter.
Do not blame me: many an eye, when I lower it, sees...
Do not blame me: do not blame a heart that, melting, turns to crystal...
Do not blame me: the shore is no longer green in my eyes...

Tal'at al-Rifa'i
Damascus