Fides

[abu nuwas]

I practically know it by heart, I have read so many times! We are very different; if I had written it, I should be wondering what it all meant for months, whereas you will probably tinker it out of existence. I took it as a beautiful night-mare. I kept mulling over the last line, finally, before shutting the book, deciding that far from sounding wrong, it propped the whole structure up! Well done, I enjoyed, even if there were times when I felt like braining you for your wretched ambiguity!

It reminded me of one of the Spanish playwrights of the Golden Age, Lope de Vega, who has, in 'Fuenteovejuna' the lines:

'Sacad esa blanca espada, que habeis de haacer, peleando
Tan roja como la cruz'

(Take this white sword which you must make, by killing, as red as the Cross).