Ancient Egyptian Poetry

LOVE POEM

Oh! when my lady comes,
And I with love behold her,
I take her to my beating heart
And in my arms enfold her;
My heart is filled with joy divine
For I am hers and she is mine.


Oh when her soft embraces
Do give my love completeness,
The perfumes of Kemet
Anoint me with their sweetness:
And when her lips are pressed to mine
I am made drunk and need no wine.




A WOMAN'S LOST LOVE

Lost! Lost! Lost! O lost my love to me!
He passes by my house, nor turns his head,
I deck myself with care; he does not see.
He loves me not. Would God that I were dead!

God! God! God! O Amun, great of might!
My sacrifice and prayers, are they in vain?
I offer to thee all that can delight,
Hear thou my cry and bring my love again.

Sweet, sweet, sweet as honey in my mouth,
His kisses on my lips, my breast, my hair;
But now my heart is as the sun-scorched South,
Where lie the fields deserted, grey and bare.

Come! Come! Come! And kiss me when I die,
For life, compelling life, is in thy breath;
And at that kiss, though in the tomb I lie,
I will arise and break the bands of Death.