Thou and I - Raffi

Would I were the lake, so blue and calm,
And thou, fair maiden, with reluctant pride,
Wouldst see thy picture, delicate and faint,
Thy sacred image, in my depths abide.

Or would that on the shore a willow grew,
And thou mightst lean on it, and the frail tree
Might let thee fall into the lake, and there
Sway with its waters everlastingly!

I would I were the forest, dark and vast,
And that thou there mightst come to muse alone,
And, ere I knew it, I might overhear
What thy lips murmur in an undertone.

Or would that thou mightst sit beneath a tree,
Singing a pure, sweet song; and leaf and bough,
With admiration trembling, would descend
And form a coronal to wreathe thy brow.

I would I were the face of the dark sky,
That so from heaven I might shake down on thee
A multitude of stars, as ’t were my tears;
Ah, do not tread upon them scornfully!

Would I the writer were, and thou the theme!
Would thou affection wert, and I the heart!
I the bouquet, and thou its silken string;
When thou art loosed, the flowers will fall apart.

Oh, would I were a lover of sweet song,
And thou my lyre, angel for whom I pine!
And that thy chords beneath my unskilled hands
Might vibrate till thy heart responds to mine!

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Raffi [Hagop Melik Hagopian] (1835 - 1888) Armenia
Translated by Alice Stone Blackwell
Source: Armenian House .org