| A Girl, a Bird and a Birch-tree | |
| A lover's choicest desire, | |
| oh Lord God, will there come before long | |
| (if his stout praise be ready) | |
| 4 | a splendid girl and an eloquent bird? |
| There was not (despite learning to watch) | |
| for a loving lad, pale and modest, | |
| a craft as pleasant (despite a flood of passion) | |
| 8 | as caring for a girl who was loved |
| and walking (spending a long time) | |
| the nooks and clusters of trees | |
| like a huntsman, a lively sportsman, | |
| 12 | who for a wild deer would chase |
| from place to place in passion, | |
| from grove to grove (a second Enid [is she]), | |
| and a little bird who keeps sense for us | |
| 16 | on the edge of the sky praising her. |
| [With] a clear voice, call the girl like Esyllt | |
| would the worthy and wild messenger, | |
| with a golden beak, on a twig, | |
| 20 | by his faith, seeing [the] girl. |
| Pleasant (were the tears that flow to allow it) | |
| would be clearly to hear | |
| the great exuberance of the bird of May | |
| 24 | under the verdant birch of the splendid girl, |
| a radiant knight with a skilful tune, | |
| golden on verdant leaves. | |
| He would sing a lively harmony | |
| 28 | from hour to hour, [it was] great pain when he was [doing so]. |
| He would not go, fine, gentle tone, | |
| silver-voiced bird, from any grove | |
| (a clear, high, thoughtful song) | |
| 32 | more than a hermit would (narrow branches). |
| It would be fitting, in houses of birch, | |
| if the bird would come to the grove of leaves, | |
| small birch-trees with snug stockings, | |
| 36 | a gentle basket, green and pretty, |
| a fair birch-tree with a roof of hair of the same age, | |
| a splendid tower on the brow of the hill. | |
| Growth without the hewing of an adze, | |
| 40 | a house, on a single pillar it grows. |
| A green posy of enchanting throngs of an embrace of leaves, | |
| whisks standing on stubble, | |
| dark-furred, May's dandy, | |
| 44 | a verdant, thick roof, God's blessing on it. |
| It was a pleasant craft, by the relic, | |
| to kiss a girl of a constant word, | |
| and to look, after our fine passing of time | |
| 48 | between ourselves (bands of sunlight) |
| through the mantle of my glorious woman, | |
| [at the] hills, pennies of lust, | |
| and to bend [my] body | |
| 52 | (blue eyes today, of a weak colour, |
| the beauty of a gem of radiant praise) | |
| over the girl who committed deceit. | |