Filip Kallimach

Fanny gave me a golden kiss,
Not a kiss which in inborn decency
A boy gives to his nannies or aunts
And quickly moves away his lips.

Or which a harlot takes after a night
From an already tired guest, suffering
That a wretch crumples the bed in wantonness
- He should have better stayed at home.

I got the kiss which doubles
The fire of lovers, when lust is born
In the depth of senses and pierces
The bodies with a thrill, and finally expires.

When parted lips join with the lips
And stifled breath dies out
And when your restless tongue
Seeps wet sweetness through the little teeth,

O sweet flower of soul, awakened
In the deepest recess of the youthful breast,
You penetrate the heart to the core,
As we linger, joining our lips!

Nectar - or if the earth has anything sweeter
Than divine nectar - has flown
From the lips into my mouth and refreshed
The weary breath of my breast.

But if I lingered longer in the golden kiss
My soul - entrapped by lust -
Would like to escape forever to Fanny
Leaving behind the dead body.

translated by Michal J. Mikos