The Armenian Girl Poem by Raphael Patkanian

HAVE you seen the bright moon rising
In the heavens? Have you seen
Ruddy apricots that shimmer
Through the garden’s foliage green?
Have you seen the red rose glowing
Where green leaves about her meet.
And around her, in a bevy,
Lilies, pinks, and iris sweet ?
Lo, beside Armenia’s maiden,
Dark and dim the bright moon is ;
Apricots and pinks and iris
Are not worth a single kiss.
Roses on her cheeks are blooming,
On her brow a lily fair,
And of innocence the symbol
Is the smile her sweet lips wear.
From her friend she takes the zither
With a blush the heart that wins ;
Touching it with dainty fingers,
The lekzinca* she begins.
* An Oriental dance.
Like a tree her form is slender,
Swaying with a dreamy grace;
Now she flies with rapid footsteps,
Now returns with gliding pace.
All the young men’s hearts are melted
When the maiden they behold,
And the old men curse their fortune
That so early they grew old.