Subject: Canonical Compositions from the Biblical World; Egyptian Canonical Compositions; Individual Focus; Love Poems
Cairo Love Songs (1.50)
Subject: Cant 8:6
(Boy) (Number 21A)
If only I were her Nubian maid,
her attendant in secret!
She brings her [a bowl of] mandragoras …
It is in her hand,
while she gives pleasure.
In other words:
she would grant me
the hue of her whole body.
(Boy) (Number 21B)
If only I were the laundryman
of my sister’s linen g…
Commentary
The following are stanzas from the second of two seven-stanza love songs (numbers 21A-21G) written on a vase, now shattered.1