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Manijeh Sees Bijan beneath the Cypress

Manijeh Sees Bijan beneath the Cypress

From C2.5, Bijan Seeks Manijeh. It illustrates C2.5.19–28:

  • C2.5.19
    He came in nearer, entered in the wood,And on his longing brooded where he stood.
  • C2.5.20
    He took his place beneath a cypress high,Lest harm should reach him from the burning sky.
  • C2.5.21
    He tied his horse, and from that place unseenHe watched them, hidden where the boughs were green.
  • C2.5.22
    He saw them like Kandahar’s idols stand,Adorned like glad spring over all that land.
  • C2.5.23
    The whole plain sounded with the rud and song,And greeting to the soul seemed borne along.
  • C2.5.24
    When from her tent the maiden saw his face,She marked the chieftain’s stature, fire, and grace.
  • C2.5.25
    His cheeks were like Canopus, bright and fair,Or jasmine blooming through violet-dark hair.
  • C2.5.26
    The crown of his father was on his head;His breast blazed bright with Roman brocade’s thread.
  • C2.5.27
    Within the curtain, veiled, the maiden yearned;Toward that sunlike face her whole heart turned.
  • C2.5.28
    She sent her nurse off swiftly: “Go and seeWho stands, moon-featured, by that cypress-tree.

In the picture

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