" A rose doesn't need a wreath, my lady, and you
don't need a robe or a gem-studded head-dress.
Your skin leaves pearls wanting, not even gold
carries the splendor of your uncombed hair;
Indian sapphire has the grace of sparkling radiance
yet weaker by far than the sparkle of your eyes;
your dewy lips and the honey-mixed harmony of your breasts
are simply the charmed girdle of the goddess of love.
All this subdues me utterly, and I am soothed only
by the gentle hope that lives in my eyes. "

― Paulus Silentiarius