
Manijeh Sees Bijan beneath the Cypress
From C2.5, Bijan Seeks Manijeh. It illustrates C2.5.19–28:
- C2.5.19He came in nearer, entered in the wood,And on his longing brooded where he stood.
- C2.5.20He took his place beneath a cypress high,Lest harm should reach him from the burning sky.
- C2.5.21He tied his horse, and from that place unseenHe watched them, hidden where the boughs were green.
- C2.5.22He saw them like Kandahar’s idols stand,Adorned like glad spring over all that land.
- C2.5.23The whole plain sounded with the rud and song,And greeting to the soul seemed borne along.
- C2.5.24When from her tent the maiden saw his face,She marked the chieftain’s stature, fire, and grace.
- C2.5.25His cheeks were like Canopus, bright and fair,Or jasmine blooming through violet-dark hair.
- C2.5.26The crown of his father was on his head;His breast blazed bright with Roman brocade’s thread.
- C2.5.27Within the curtain, veiled, the maiden yearned;Toward that sunlike face her whole heart turned.
- C2.5.28She sent her nurse off swiftly: “Go and seeWho stands, moon-featured, by that cypress-tree.
In the picture
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