By Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali bin Hisn (eleventh century). The poem was translated from the Arabic by Peter Cole and appears in Hymns & Qualms, a selection of his poems and translations that was published in May by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Cole is the author of four previous volumes of poetry.
Nothing has taken me
more by surprise —
that dove, cooing
on a branch between
the islet and river,
its collar pistachio
green, its breast
lapis, its neck
ashimmer, its back
and the tips of its wings
maroon. Its ruby
eyes had flitting
lids of pearl
above, flecked
and bordered with gold.
Its beak was black
at the point alone,
a reed’s tip
dipped in ink.
The bough was its throne.
It hid its throat
in the fold of a wing —
resting. Moaning,
I startled it. And seeing me
weeping, it spread
its wings, then beat them —
and as it flew
it took my heart
away. It’s gone. . . .
