An ancient Egyptian love poem:

The love of my beloved leaps

on the bank of the stream.

A crocodile lies in the shadows;

Yet I go down into the water,

and breast the wave.

My courage is high on the stream,

And the water is a land to my feet.

It is her love that makes me strong.

She is a book of spells to me.

When I behold my beloved coming

my heart is glad,

My arms are spread apart to embrace her;

My heart rejoices forever...

since my beloved came.

When I embrace her

I am as on in Incense Land,

As one who carries perfumes.

When I kiss her, her lips are opened,

And I am made merry without beer.

Would that I were her Negress slave

who is in attendance on her;

So should I behold the hue of all her limbs.

Our Oriental Heritage, Ch.8 Sec.7