Lilatu Laili Poem by Ameen Rihani

At night on the radiant Rialto,
By the stars in their houses of glass,
I strolled with my soul in my pocket
And prayed that my night might not pass ;
I have seen 'neath the high heels of Beauty
My heart and my soul and my shame ;
That form ! O, how often it lured me,
And how often I lost in the game !
And how often I walked in the shadow
Of a Laila a mile and a mile !
But the rapture and bliss of a vision
Would end in a great gush of bile.
To the hints that her garment would whisper
I have listened but I would not dare ;
I have seen every one of my fancies
Retreat in the dark of her hair.
I have wished that each building around us
Was a cedar, a poplar, a pine;
That the men and the women were statues,
And the rain that was falling was wine ;
That the lights were ethereal flowers ;
That the cars were the nooks in the wood,-
'O, enough !' she exclaimed as she kissed me,
'This attic and couch are as good.'