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its own," etc.). (A song to her) is great praise to me; it is no shame to me. She is my life; she is pitiless as a Circassian (dchiki; cf. Adighe, Ζηκχοὶ). Hereafter I name her name, I bestrew her (with pearls of song), I laud her (lit., her name, bestrewing, I pronounce hereafter, I praise).
The Odes to Queen T'hamara [5 (4)].—Let us sing the Queen T'hamara while shedding tears of blood; in her honour have I indited songs (lit., whose songs I spoke—vst'hkveni, aorist first person singular, with indication of relation to plural [kebani]), not ill-chosen are they: for ink I used a lake of jet (cf. Odes, V. 50, xii. 8), for pen a wavering reed (nai [Pers.]; the terminal i in Rust'haveli is only a mark of the nominative case, and not the Persian semivowel ى corresponding to Georgian ჲ, which, according to M. E. T'haqaishvili, had not yet come into the mkhedruli [military or civil] alphabet from the khutsuri [ecclesiastical]. For use of na as musical instrument, cf. 178.) A spear, through-piercing, shall rend the heart of him who hears those songs (lit., He who hears, into his heart will pierce a lance, lacerating).
[6 (5)].—She bade me compose in her honour sweet (-sounding) verses, (praise her) eyebrows, eyelashes, and hair, her lips and her teeth, carved (turned) out of crystal and ruby, and firmly set. On an anvil of soft lead even a hard stone can be broken.
New Beginning [7 (17)].—(My) eyes not enlightened by her rays (or lightless—i.e., blind—on account of her rays) again long to show themselves to her. My heart has gone mad, there remains for it but one thing (lit., Behold, the heart has gone mad, to it has fallen the lot): to flee to the wilderness. In her power it lies to set the flesh on fire and give joy to the soul; entreat her for me (lit., For me, m[i]-, beg her, iadjet'h, or, For me, m-, intercede, iadjet'h, before her—cf. 816, 819, 1035—who is sufficient to give burning to the flesh, comfort [lkhena, cf. 300] to the soul); I fear verses will fail (me), I am about to laud three forms (or colours—i.e., three types of heroes—Tariel, Avt'handil, and P'hridon).
[8 (16)].—This (is a) Persian tale transferred into the Georgian language: like a rare pearl worthy of fondling (by rolling it) from hand to hand; it came to my hands, and I shall put it into verse (vpove and gardavt'hkvi both in the aorist, despite the future sense), I shall perform a feat, there will be reason for pride. I await the approval of the stately beauty who has robbed me of reason (lit., She has deprived me of reason, the stately and beautiful, let her give me approval! Cf. Odes, xii. 15).
