<p>Where has my lover gone, most precious to me,~(1)<br /> And where has he taken his charms?<br /> He's luscious to me as a fruit-laden tree,<br /> All my pleasure's in him, he's my [man].<br /> I've sent my lover out of town,~(5)<br /> So now my daddy's gone.*<br /> I'll have to make do with my own "coo-coo,"<br /> For my love bird has flown away.[1]<br /> Some trapper must bring my stray lover home,<br /> So you can make sweet cooing with me,~(10)<br /> Or, let it be the gardener-man,<br /> to bring me (fruit from your tree).[2]<br /> I've got the coop* ready for the young man,<br /> I'll catch the love bird (in one snap),<br /> Then, when I "coo?"<br /> I'll get a round "yes!" (from my trap).*~(15)</p> [1] Literally: “I embrace my laughter and the dove has gone away.”<br />[2] Literally: “You will embrace my laughter and the orchardman will bring to me.”<br /><br />Translation: Nissinen, Melammu Symposia 2 (1999), 119.<br /><br />*Notes to Text: (6) Reading wa-‰[i]. (12) Taking qu-pí as “my coop” (quppi). (15) Metathetic wordplay: alammi :umalla?<br /> <br /> Benjamin R. Foster, Before the Muses, 3rd ed. 2005, (p. 165) <a href="http://www.cdlpress.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=54" target="_blank">http://www.cdlpress.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=54</a> Text: Groneberg, AOAT 267 (1999), 192–193; Edition: pp. 177–181.<br /> Akkadian clay tablet <a href="/taxonomy/term/63">Erotic literature</a>