Your face usurps the fiery glow and hue
of roses;
And with your face here, what have I to do
with roses?

Your ringlets’ fragrance is so sweet, my friend,
No fragrant rose-scent could entice me to
seek roses–

Besides, the faithless roses’ scent will fade,
Which is a serious drawback, in my view
of roses;

And if the waters of eternal life
Had touched their roots, so that they bloomed anew,
these roses,

When could they ever form a bud as sweet
As your small mouth, which is more trim and true
than roses?

translated by Dick Davis