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A sequence of short lyric poems meditates on devotion, longing, and the soul's passage from youthful abundance to mature offering. Using natural and seasonal imagery—fruit, flowers, river, wind—the poems describe inner movement toward a beloved or master, the shedding of social honors and possessions, and the readiness to set forth on a spiritual journey. Stylistically spare and intimate, the verses alternate tender longing, parablelike episodes, and exhortations to openness, emphasizing surrender, inward illumination, and the simple act of giving.
Bid me and I shall gather my fruits to bring them in full baskets into your courtyard, though some are lost and some not ripe.
For the season grows heavy with its fulness, and there is a plaintive shepherd’s pipe in the shade.
Bid me and I shall set sail on the river.
The March wind is fretful, fretting the languid waves into murmurs.
The garden has yielded its all, and in the weary hour of evening the call comes from your house on the shore in the sunset.