ALCOVE II
TABLET V--COLUMN I
CORONATION OF IZDUBAR AS KING OF THE FOUR RACES, AND APPEARANCE OF ISHTAR IN HIS ROYAL PRESENCE, WHO SUES FOR HIS HAND
To Erech's palaces returns the Sar,Rich laden with Khumbaba's spoils of war.
The land of Ur with grandest glories shines--
And gleams with palaces and towers and shrines.
The plain with temples, cities, walls is filled,
And wide canals, and yellow harvests tilled.
Grand Erech to the sight presents no walls
In ruins laid, but glows with turrets, halls;
With splendor proudly shines across the plain.
And now with joy he meets his courtly train;
Their shouts of welcome rend the gleaming skies,
And happiness beams from his people's eyes.
Within the walls he rides with kingly pride,
And all his chiefs and seers beside him ride;
To his grand palace they now lead the way,
To crown him king of Subartu this day.
Arrayed in splendor on his throne, the Sar
Before him eyes the Kassite spoils of war,[paragraph continues]
p. 78
Khumbaba's crown of gold, and blazing gems,
The richest of the Kassite diadems,
The royal sceptre of all Subartu,
Of Larsa, Ur, Kardunia and Sutu
The Sar upon his brow the crown now bound,
Receives the sceptre while his courts resound
With shouts for Sar-dan-nu of Subartu,
The Sar of Kip-rat arba 1 and Sutu,
Of Sumir, Accad, Nipur, Bar-ili, 2
And Erech, Larsa, Mairu, and Kus-si,
Of Mal-al-nak, Kitu;--the sky resounds--
For Iz-zu-bar-ili, 3 from earth rebounds;
For Nam-mu-rabi, Bar-bels king of fire.
What king to his great glory can aspire?
The Zig-gur-at-u to the skies
His hands have built, where holy fires
To Samas burn; its flame ne'er dies,
To holiness lead man's desires.
He opens wide the fiery gates
Of all the gods at Dintir old,
Ka-ding-ir-a. 4 This day completes
His grandeur--may it far be told
Of our great Sar whose godly gate
Wide opens Heaven's joy for man,
Of Iz-zu-bar-ili the great,
Who rules from Khar-sak to the main.
Within the entrance to the royal rooms,
Queen Ishtar with her train in splendor comes,
Her radiant form with glistening gems ablaze,
And shining crescent with its glorious rays,
Glow with bright Heaven's unremitting flame;
Thus came the Queen of Love of godly fame.
The richest robe of gods her form enshrines,
With every charm of Heaven and earth she shines;[paragraph continues]
p. 79
of their wide splendors robs the farthest skies,
That she with love her hero may surprise.
Her train she robes with liveries of Heaven,
To her are all the dazzling splendors given.
The glittering court is filled with chiefs and seers,
When Ishtar at the entrance now appears,
The Ner-kalli, 5 her heralds at the door,
As some grand sovereign from a foreign shore,
The goddess proudly enters with her train,
The spirits of the earth, and tossing main,
From mountains, rivers, woods, and running streams;
And every spirit where the sunlight gleams,
Now fill the courts and palaces and halls,
And thousands glowing bright surround the walls;
Each wafting wind brings I-gi-gi 6 that soar
Above An-un-na-ci from every shore,
And herald Ishtar's presence, Queen of Love,
With music through the halls, around, above.
From lyres and lutes their softest wooings bring,
As Ishtar bows before her lover king.
A halo from the goddess fills the halls,
And shines upon the dazzling jewelled walls.
The Sar and seers in wonder were amazed
At the sweet strains, and glorious light that blazed;
Transfixed in silence stood, as she now spoke,
And sweeter music through the palace woke.
Like fragrant zephyrs, warbling from retreats
Of gardens of the gods, she thus entreats
From Izdubar her welcome, or a glance
Of love; and she the Sar would thus entrance:
"Thy wisdom, Sar, surpasses all mankind,
In thee, O king! no blemish do I find.
The Queen of Heaven favor seeks from thee,
I come with love, and prostrate bend the knee.
My follies past, I hope thou wilt forgive,
Alone I love thee, with thee move and live;
My heart's affections to thee, me have led,
p. 80
To woo thee to thine Ishtar's marriage bed.
O kiss me, my beloved! I adore
Thee! Hear me! I renounce the godly shore
With all its hollow splendor where as queen
I o'er the heavenly hosts, unrivaled reign
In grandest glory on my shining throne;
And yet for thee my heart here pines alone,
I cannot live without my Izdubar!
My husband's love and simple word shall far
Surpass the godly bond. O let me, king,
Rest on thy breast, and happiness will cling
To all the blissful days which shall be thine.
With glory of the skies, my love shall shine.
O Izdubar, my king! this love below
Is grander here than mortals e'er can know,
For this I leave my throne in yonder skies,
And at the feet of love thy queen now lies.
Oh, let me taste with thee the sweets of love,
And I my love for thee will grandly prove,
And thou shalt ride upon a diamond car,
Lined with pure gold; and jeweled horns of war
Shall stud it round like rays of Samas' fire.
Rich gifts whate'er my lover shall desire,
Thy word shall bring to thee, my Sar-dan-nu!
Lo! all the wealth that gods above can view,
I bring to thee with its exhaustless store.
Oh, come my love! within the halls, where more
Than I have named is found, all, all is thine;
Oh, come with me within our halls divine!
Amid the fragrant odors of the pines,
And all shrubs and flowers, vines,
Euphrates' zir-ri there shall sing for thee,
And dance around thy feet with zi-mu-ri 7
And kings and lords and princes I will bring
To bow to thee, beloved, glorious king!
With tribute from the mountains and the plains,
As offerings to thee. Thy flocks shall twins
Bring forth; and herds of fattened, lowing kine
Shall fast increase upon the plains divine.[paragraph continues]
p. 81
Thy warrior steeds shall prance with flowing manes,
Resistless with thy chariot on the plain.
Vast spoils, thy beasts of burden far shall bear,
Unrivaled then shall be my king of war;
And victory o'er all, thine eyes shall view,
And loud acclaims shall rend the bright Samu."
Footnotes
78:1 "Kip-rat arba," the four races or regions.78:2 "Bar-ili," from "bar" gate, and "ili," of the gods--Babel, bab--originates from the Accadian word "bar," Semitic "bab;" thus Babel was originally called "bar-ili." See Taylor and Furst. The latter renders it "Bar-(bir-)Bel," "town of Belus."
78:3 "Izzu-bar-ili" we believe to be the original name of Izdubar, afterward shortened to Izdubar, and means literally the fire-king of "bar-ili," or the "fire-king of the gate of the gods." This identifies him with Nimrod, the founder of Par-bet or Babylon.
78:4 Ka-ding-ir-a (Ace.), "gate of God"--Pinches.
79:5 "Ner-kalli," or "Ner-ekalli," chief of the palace.
79:6 "I-gi-gi", pronounced "e-gee-gee," spirits of heaven.
80:7 "Zi-mu-ri," spirits of the light.
COLUMN II
THE KING'S ANSWER AND ISHTAR'S RAGE
Amazed the sovereign sat upon his throne;And while she wooed, his heart was turned to stone;
In scorn replied:
"Rise Ishtar, Heaven's high queen,
Though all thy wealth, possessions I had seen
Now piled before me, all in gems and gold,
Of all the wealth of Heaven there heaped of old,
I nakedness and famine would prefer
To all the wealth divine thou canst confer.
What carest thou for earthly royalty?
The cup of poison shall thy lovers see.
Thou sawest me within a haunt away
From men. I lingered on that direful day,
And took thee for a beauteous zi-re-mu 1
Or zi-ar-i-a or a zi-lit-tu, 2
And thou didst cause to enter love divine.
As zi-cur-un-i, spirit of the wine,
Thou didst deceive me with thine arts refined,
And love escaped upon the passing wind.
Then to my palace come, and me there seek;
Didst place thy mouth upon my lips, and wake
Within my breast a dream of love and fire,
Till I awoke and checked thy wild desire;
Thou earnest with the form of spirits fair,
Didst hover o'er me in my chamber there.
Thy godly fragrance from the skies above,
A sign did carry of the Queen of Love:
I woke, and thou didst vanish, then didst stand
p. 82
As mine own servant in my palace grand.
Then as a skulking foe, a mystic spell
Didst weave, and scorch me with the fires of hell
While I was wrapped in sleep. Again I woke,
I saw around me dal-khi, sulphurous smoke,
Which thou didst send around my royal bed;
And I believed that I was with the dead,
With dal-khi gloating over me in hell.
My su-khu-li then sought thy presence fell.
Forever may thy wooing cease! for love
Hath fled, may godly praises never move
Upon the lips of holy gods, or men,--
Of thee, the god of Love ne'er speak again!
I loved thee once; with love my heart inflamed
Once sought thee, but my troubles I have blamed
Upon thee, for the dreams which thou didst send.
Go! rest thy heart; and to thy pleasures wend!
For Tammuz of thy youth thy heart once wailed,
For years his weary form thy love assailed;
Allala next, the eagle, lovest, tore
His wings. No longer could he joyful soar
And float above the forest to the sky.
Thou leavest him with fluttering wings to die.
A lusty lion thou didst love, his might
Destroyed, and plucked his claws in fierce delight,
By sevens plucked, nor heard his piteous cry.
A glorious war-steed next thy love didst try,
Who yielded to thee, till his strength was gone:
For seven kaspu 3 thou didst ride upon
Him without ceasing, gave no food nor drink,
Till he beneath thee to the earth did sink,
And to his mistress, Sil-i-li, the steed
Returned with broken spirit, drooping head.
Thou lovest Tabulu, the shepherd king,
And from his love continuous didst wring
Sem-uk-ki, 4 till he to appease thy love,
The mighty gods of heaven then sought to move[paragraph continues]
p. 83
To pity with his daily offerings.
Beneath thy wand upon the ground he springs,
Transformed to a hyena; then was driven
From his own city--by his dogs was riven.
Next Is-ul-lan-u lov'st, uncouth, and rude,
Thy father's laborer, who subject stood
To thee, and daily scoured thy vessels bright:
His eyes from him were torn, before thy sight.
And chained before thee, there thy lover stood,
With deadly poison placed within his food.
Thou sayst:
"O Isullanu, stretch thy hand!
The food partake, that doth before thee stand!
Then with thy hand didst offer him the food.
He said: 'What askest thou? It is not good!
I will not eat the poison thus prepared.'
Thy godly wand him from thy presence cleared,
Transformed him to a pillar far away.
And for my love Queen Ishtar comes this day?
As thou hast done with others, would thy love
Return to me, thine actions all doth prove."
The queen in fury from his presence turned,
In speechless rage the palace halls she spurned;
And proudly from the earth swept to the skies;
Her godly train in terror quickly flies.
Footnotes
81:1 "Zi-re-mu," spirit of mercy or grace.81:2 "Zi-lit-tu," spirit of the mist.
82:3 "Seven kaspu," fourteen hours; each kaspu was two hours.
82:4 "Sem-uk-ki" translated by Sayce "stibium," antimony; by Talbot, "lütarish semukki," thou who didst make evil with thy drugs.'--"Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch., Sayce's edition "C. A. G." p. 229.
COLUMN III
ISHTAR COMPLAINS TO ANU, KING OF HEAVEN, WHO CREATES A WINGED BULL TO DESTROY ISHTAR
Before the throne of Arm, Ishtar cries,And Anatu, the sovereigns of the skies:
"O Sar, this king my beauty doth despise,
My sweetest charms beholds not with his eyes."
And Anu to his daughter thus replied:
"My daughter, thou must crush his vaunting pride,
And he will claim thy beauty and thy charms,
And gladly lie within thy glorious arms."[paragraph continues]
p. 84
"I hate him now, O Sar, as I did love!
Against the strength of Anu let him prove
His right divine to rule without our aid,
Before the strength of Ann let him bleed.
Upon this giant Sar so filled with pride,
Let Anu's winged bull 1 in fury ride,
And I will aid the beast to strike him prone,
Till he in death shall breathe his dying groan."
And Ann said: "If thou to it shall join
Thy strength, which all thy noble names define
Thy glories 2 and thy power thus magnified,
Will humble him, who has thy power defied."
And Ishtar thus: "By all my might as queen
Of war and battles, where I proudly reign,
This Sar my hands shall strike upon the plain,
And end his strength and all his boastings vain.
By all the noble names with gods I hold
As queen of war, this giant monarch bold,
Who o'er mine ancient city thinks to reign,
Shall lie for birds of prey upon the plain.
For answering my love for thee with scorn,
Proud monarch! from thy throne thou shalt be torn!"
For Ishtar, Anu from the clouds creates
A shining monster with thick brazen plates
And horns of adamant; 3 and now it flies
Toward the palace, roaring from the skies.
Footnotes
84:1 "Anu's winged bull," Taurus, constellation of the heavens.84:2 "Glories" ("maskhi"). This word is not translated by Mr. Sayce.
84:3 "Horns of adamant." Sayce translates in l. 22, Col. v., horns of crystal--"thirty manehs of crystal," etc. The caning probably of "zamat stone," as given by Smith, was a hard substance, such as the diamond or adamant. By some translators it has been rendered onyx, and others lazuli.
COLUMN IV
THE FIGHT WITH THE WINGED BULL OF ANU
The gods appear above to watch the fight,And Erech's masari rush in affright
To Izdubar, who sits upon his throne,
Before him fall in speechless terror prone.
p. 85
A louder roar now echoes from the skies,
And Erech's Sar without the palace flies.
He sees the monster light upon the plain,
And calls Heabani with the choicest men
Of Erech's spearsmen armed, who fall in line
Without the gates, led by their Sar divine.
And now the monster rushed on Izdubar,
Who meets it as the god of chase and war.
With whirling sword before the monster's face,
He rains his blows upon its front of brass
And horns, and drives it from him o'er the plain,
And now with spreading wings it comes again,
With maddened fury; fierce its eyeballs glare.
It rides upon the monarch's pointed spear;
The scales the point have turned, and broke the haft.
Then as a pouncing hawk when sailing daft,
In swiftest flight o'er him drops from the skies,
But from the gleaming sword it quickly flies.
Three hundred warriors now nearer drew
To the fierce monster, which toward them flew;
Into their midst the monster furious rushed,
And through their solid ranks resistless pushed
To stay Heabani, onward fought and broke
Two lines and through the third, which met the shock
With ringing swords upon his horns and scales.
At last the seer it reaches, him impales
With its sharp horns: but valiant is the seer--
He grasps its crest and fights without a fear.
The monster from his sword now turns to fly;
Heabani grasps its tail, and turns his eye
Towards his king, while scudding o'er the plain.
So quickly has it rushed and fled amain,
That Izdubar its fury could not meet,
But after it be sprang with nimble feet.
Heabani loosed his grasp and stumbling falls,
And to his king approaching, thus he calls:
"My friend, our strongest men are overthrown:
But see! he comes! such strength was never known.[paragraph continues]
p. 86
With all my might I held him, but he fled!
We both it can destroy! Strike at its head!
Like Rimmon now he flies upon the air,
As sceptred Nebo, 1 he his horns doth bear,
That flash with fire along the roaring skies,
2 Around the Sar and seer he furious flies.
Heabani grasps the plunging horns, nor breaks
His grasp; in vain the monster plunging shakes
His head, and roaring, upward furious rears.
Heabani's strength the mighty monster fears;
He holds it in his iron grasp, and cries:
"Quick! strike!" Beneath the blows the monster dies;
And Izdubar now turned his furious face
Toward the gods, and on the beast doth place
His foot; he raised his gory sword on high,
And sent his shout defiant to the sky:
"'Tis thus, ye foes divine! the Sar proclaims
His war against your power, and highest names!
Hurl! hurl! your darts of fire, ye vile kal-bi! 3
My challenge hear! ye cravens of the sky!
Footnotes
86:1 "Nebo," the holder of the sceptre of power; also the god of prophecy.86:2 "Around" ("tarka"), or it may mean "between."
86:3 "Kal-bi," dogs.
COLUMN V
THE CURSE OF ISHTAR, AND REJOICING OF ERECH OVER THE VICTORY
The monarch and his seer have cleft the headFrom Anu's bull prone lying on the mead.
They now command to bring it from the plain
Within the city where they view the slain.
The heart they brought to Samas' holy shrine,
Before him laid the offering divine.
Without the temple's doors the monster lays,
And Ishtar o'er the towers the bulk surveys;
She spurns the carcass, cursing thus, she cries:
"Woe! woe to Izdubar, who me defies!
My power has overthrown, my champion slain;
Accursèd Sar! most impious of men!"
p. 87
Heabani heard the cursing of the Queen,
And from the carcass cleft the tail in twain,
Before her laid it; to the goddess said:
"And wherefore comest thou with naught to dread?
Since I with Izdubar have conquered thee,
Thou hearest me! Before thee also see
Thine armored champion's scales! thy beast is dead,"
And Ishtar from his presence furious fled,
And to her maids the goddess loudly calls
Joy and Seduction from the palace halls;
And o'er her champion's death she mourning cries,
And flying with her maids, sped to the skies.
King Izdubar his summons sends afar
To view the monster slain by Erech's Sar.
The young and old the carcass far surround,
And view its mighty bulk upon the ground.
The young men eye its horns with wild delight,
And weigh -them on the public scales in sight
Of Erech. "Thirty manehs weighs!" they cry;
"Of purest zamat stone, seems to the eye
In substance, with extremities defaced."
Six gurri weighed the monster's bulk undressed.
As food for Lugul-turda, their Sar's god,
The beast is severed, placed upon the wood.
Piled high upon the altar o'er the fires.
Then to Euphrates' waters each retires
To cleanse themselves for Erech's grand parade,
As Izdubar by proclamation bade.
Upon their steeds of war with Izdubar
The chiefs and warriors extend afar
With chariots, and waving banners, spears,
And Erech rings with their triumphant cheers.
Before the chariot of their great ar,
Who with his seer rides in his brazen car,
The seers a proclamation loud proclaim
And cheer their Sar and seer; and laud the name
Of their great monarch, chanting thus his praise,
While Erech's band their liveliest marches play:
p. 88
"If anyone to glory can lay claim
Among all chiefs and warriors of fame,
We Izdubar above them all proclaim
Our Izzu-Ul-bar 1 of undying fame.
Sar gabri la isu,
Sar-dannu bu-mas-lu! 2
He wears the diadem of Subartu,
From Bar-ili 3 he came to Eridu;
Our giant monarch, who of all barri 4
Can rival him, our Nin-arad rabi? 5
Sar-dannu ina mati basi,
Sar bu-mas-la e-mu-ki, nesi. 6
Through the grand halls of Erech far resounds
The feast their Sar proclaimed through all the grounds
Of Erech's palaces; where he now meets
His heroes, seers and counsellors, and greets
Them in his crowded festal halls.
Grand banquets far are spread within the walls,
And sparkling rarest wines each freely drank,
And revels ruled the hour till Samas sank,
And shadows sweep across the joyous plain,
And Samas sleeps with Hea 'neath the main.
The jewelled lamps are lit within the halls,
And dazzling glory on the feasters falls.
The rays o'er gems and richest garments shone
Upon the lords and ladies round the throne;
While troops of dancing girls around them move
With cymbals, harps and lutes, with songs of love.
Again the board glows with rich food and wines,
Now spread before them till each man reclines
Upon his couch at rest in the far night,
And swimming halls and wines pass from their sight.
Footnotes
88:1 "Izzu-Ul-bar," the fire of Bel's temple.88:2 "The King who has no rival. The powerful giant King." The royal titles of Izdubar.
88:3 "Bar-ili," temple, or country of the gods.
88:4 "Barri," chieftains, army, soldiers.
88:5 "Nin-arad rabi," "the servant of Nin, the King."
88:6 "Who is the great king (in the land) of all countries, the powerful giant king, the lion!" The royal titles of Izdubar.
COLUMN VI
ISHTAR WEAVES A MYSTIC SPELL OVER THE KING AND SEER, AND VANISHES--THE SEER ADVISES THE KING TO SEEK THE AID OF THE IMMORTAL SEER WHO ESCAPES FROM THE FLOOD.
The goddess Ishtar wrapped in darkness waitsUntil the goddess Tsil-at-tu 1 the gates
Of sleep has closed upon the darkened plain;
Then lightly to the palace flies the Queen.
O'er the King's couch she weaves an awful dream,
While her bright eyes upon him furious gleam.
Then o'er Heabani's couch a moment stands,
And Heaven's curtains pulls aside with hands
Of mystic power, and he a vision sees--
The gods in council;--vanishing, she flees
Without the palace like a gleam of light,
And wakes the guard around in wild affright.
Next day the seer reveals to Izdubar
How all the gods a council held of war,
And gave to Anu power to punish them
For thus defying Ishtar's godly claim;
And thus the seer gave him his counsel, well
Considered, how to meet their plottings fell:
"To Khasisadra go, who from the flood
Escaped when o'er the earth the waters stood
Above mankind, and covered all the ground;
He at the river's mouth may yet be found.
For his great aid, we now the seer must seek,
For Anu's fury will upon us break.
Immortal lives the seer beside the sea;
Through Hades pass, and soon the seer mayst see."
Thus Izdubar replied, and him embraced:
With thee, Heabani, I my throne have graced;
p. 90
With thee I go, mine own companion dear,
And on the road each other we may cheer."
"The way is long, my King, and if I live,
With thee I go, but oh, thou must not grieve,
For perils great attend the way, and old
Am I: the suppleness of youth to hold
My strength I need, but it alas! is gone.
My heart is ready, but I fear, my son,
These crippled limbs which Anu's bull hath left
Of my strong vigor have thy seer bereft.
Too weak am I, for that long journey hard
To undertake; my Presence would retard
Thee,--with these wounds; nor strength have I to last
To guard my body in the mountain fast.
But if thou wilt, my strength is thine, my King!
To do thy will my agèd form shall spring
With gladness, and all perils I'll defy;
If need be, for thee will thy servant die."
"Heabani, noble one! my chosen seer!
I love thee, bid thy loyal heart good cheer.
He steeds may take to ride through all the way,
With easy journeys on the road each day;
From perils I will guard thee, and defend;
To-morrow then we on our way will wend."
Equipped for the long journey they appear
Next morn and leave, while Erech's people cheer
Them on their way across the glowing plain,
To perils dire they go--distress and pain.
Footnotes
89:1 "Tsil-at-tu," goddess of darkness, or shades of night.TABLET VI--COLUMN I
ISHTAR'S DESCENT TO HADES--HER FEARFUL RECEPTION
To Hades' darkened land, whence none return,Queen Ishtar, Sin's great daughter, now doth turn;
Inclined her ear and listened through the void
That lay beneath of every path devoid,
The home of darkness, of the Under-World,
Where god Ir-kal-la 1 from the heights was hurled.
The land and road from whence is no return,
Where light no entrance hath to that dark bourne;
Where dust to dust returns, devouring clods;
Where light dwells not in Tsil-lat-tus abodes;
Where sable ravens hovering rule the air;
O'er doors and bolts dust reigneth with despair.
Before the gates of gloom the Queen now stands,
And to the keeper Ishtar thus commands:
"O keeper of the waters! open wide
Thy gate, that I through these dark walls may glide;
But if thou open'st not the gate for me,
That I may enter, shattered thou shalt see
The doors and bolts before thee lying prone,
And from the dust shall rise each skeleton,
With fleshless jaws devour all men with thee,
Till death shall triumph o'er mortality."
The keeper to the Princess Ishtar said:
"Withhold thy speech! or Allat's fury dread!
To her I go to bid thee welcome here."
To Allat then the keeper doth appear:
"Thy sister Ishtar the dark waters seeks--
The Queen of Heaven," thus Allat's fury breaks.
"So like an herb uprooted comes this Queen,
To sting me as an asp doth Ishtar mean?
What can her presence bring to me but hate?
Doth Heaven's Queen thus come infuriate?"
And Ishtar thus replies: "The fount I seek,
p. 92
Where I with Tammuz, my first love, may speak;
And drink its waters, as sweet nectar-wines,
Weep o'er my husband, who in death reclines;
My loss as wife with handmaids I deplore,
O'er my dear Tammuz let my teardrops pour."
And Allat said, "Go! keeper, open wide
The gates to her! she hath me once defied;
Bewitch her as commanded by our laws."
To her thus Hades opened wide its jaws.
"Within, O goddess! Cutha thee receives!
Thus Hades' palace its first greeting gives."
He seized her, and her crown aside was thrown.
"O why, thou keeper, dost thou seize my crown?
"Within, O goddess! Allat thee receives!
'Tis thus to thee our Queen her welcome gives."
Within the next gate he her earrings takes,
And goddess Ishtar now with fury shakes,
"Then why, thou slave, mine earrings take away?"
"Thus entrance, goddess, Allat bids this day."
At the third gate her necklace next he takes,
And now in fear before him Ishtar quakes.
"And wilt thou take from me my gems away?"
"Thus entrance, goddess, Allat bids this day."
And thus he strips the goddess at each gate,
Of ornaments upon her breast and feet
And arms; her bracelets, girdle from her waist,
Her robe next took, and flung the Queen undrest
Within a cell of that dark solitude.
At last, before Queen Ishtar Allat stood,
When she had long remained within the walls
And Allat mocked her till Queen Ishtar falls
Humiliated on the floor in woe;
Then turning wildly, cursed her ancient foe.
Queen Allat furious to her servant cries:
"Go! Naintar! with disease strike blind her eyes!
And strike her side! her breast and head and feet;
With foul disease her strike, within the gate!"
Footnotes
91:1 "Ir-kal-la," the King of Hades, who was hurled front the heights of heaven with the evil gods who rebelled with Tiamatu, the goddess of chaos, against the reign of the gods of heaven.COLUMN II
EFFECT OF ISHTAR'S IMPRISONMENT IN HADES--LOVE DEPARTS FROM THE EARTH--THE EARTH'S SOLEMN DIRGE OF WOE.
When Ishtar, Queen of Love, from Earth had flown,With her love fled, and left all nature prone;
From Earth all peace with love then fled amain.
In loneliness the bull stalked o'er the plain,
And tossed his drooping crest toward the sky,
In sadness lay upon the green to die;
On the far kine looked weary and bereaved,
And turned toward the gods, and wondering grieved.
The troubled kine then gravely chewed their cud,
And hungerless in the rich pastures stood.
The ass his mate abandoned, fled away,
And loveless wives then cursed the direful day;
And loving husbands kiss their wives no more,
And doves their cooing ceased, and separate soar;
And love then died in. all the breasts of men,
And strife supreme on earth was reveling then.
The sexes of mankind their wars divide,
And women hate all men, and them deride;
And some demented hurl aside their gowns,
And queens their robes discard and jewelled crowns,
And rush upon the streets bereft of shame,
Their forms expose, and all the gods defame.
"Alas! from earth the Queen of Love has gone,
And lovers 'void their haunts with faces wan
And spurn from them the hateful thoughts of love,
For love no longer reigns, all life to move.
An awful thrill now speeds through Hades' doors,
And shakes with horror all the dismal floors;
A wail upon the breeze through space doth fly,
And howling gales sweep madly through the sky;
Through all the universe there speeds a pang
Of travail. Mam-nu-tu 1 appalled doth hang
p. 94
Upon her blackened pinions in the air
And piteous from her path leads Black Despair,
"The queen in chains in Hades dying lies,
And life with her," they cry, "forever dies!"
Through misty glades and darkened depths of space,
Tornadoes roar her fate to Earth's sweet face;
The direful tidings from far Hades pour
Upon her bosom with their saddest roar;
Like moans of mighty powers in misery,
They bring the tale with awful minstrelsy.
And Earth her mists wrapped round her face in woe,
While icy pangs through all her breast deep flow.
Her bosom sobbing wails a mighty moan,
"Alas! for-ever my sweet queen hath flown!"
With shrieks of hurricane, and ocean's groan,
And sobbing of the winds through heights unknown,
Through mountain gorges sweep her wails of woe,
Through every land and seas, her sorrows flow:
Oh, moan! oh, moan! dear mountains, lakes, and seas!
Oh, weep with me dear plants, and flowers, and trees!
Alas! my beauty fading now will die!
Oh, weep, ye stars, for me in every sky!
Oh, Samas, hide thy face! I am undone!
Oh, weep with me Ur-ru, 2 my precious son.
Let all your notes of joy, my birds, be stilled;
Your mother's heart with dread despair is filled:
Come back, my flowerets, with your fragrant dews;
Come, all my beauties, with your brightest hues;
Come back, my plants and buds and youngling shoots!
Within your mother's bosom hide your roots.
Oh, children, children! Love hath fled away,
Alas! that life I gave should see this day!
Your queen lies dying in her awful woe,
Oh, why should she from us to Hades go?"
Wide Nature felt her woe, and ceased to spring,
And withered buds their vigor lost, and fling
No more their fragrance to the lifeless air;
The fruit-trees died, or barren ceased to bear;[paragraph continues]
p. 95
The male plants kiss their female plants no more;
And pollen on the winds no longer soar
To carry their caresses to the seed
Of waiting hearts that unavailing bleed,
Until they fold their petals in despair,
And dying, drop to earth, and wither there.
The growing grain no longer fills its head,
The fairest fields of corn lie blasted, dead.
All Nature mourning dons her sad attire,
And plants and trees with falling leaves expire.
And Samas' light and moon-god's soothing rays
Earth's love no more attracts; recurring days
Are shortened by a blackness deep profound
That rises higher as the days come round.
At last their light flees from the darkened skies,
The last faint gleam now passes, slowly dies.
Upon a blasted world, dread darkness falls,
O'er dying nature, crumbling cities' walls.
Volcanoes' fires are now the only light,
Where pale-faced men collect around in fright;
With fearful cries the lurid air they rend,
To all the gods their wild petitions send.
Footnotes
93:1 "Mam-nu-tu," goddess of fate.94:2 "Ur-ru," the moon-god.
COLUMN III
PAPSUKUL, THE GOD OF HOPE, AND HERALD OF THE GODS, FLIES FROM THE EARTH AND INTERCEDES FOR THE RELEASE OF ISHTAR, AND HEA GRANTS HIS PRAYER
O Hope! thou fleeting pleasure of the mind,Forever with us stay, our hearts to bind!
We cling to thee till life has fled away;
Our dearest phantom, ever with us stay!
Without thee, we have naught but dread despair,
The worst of all our torments with us here;
Oh, come with thy soft pinions, o'er us shine!
And we will worship thee, a god divine:
The ignis fatuus of all our skies
That grandly leads us, vanishes and dies,[paragraph continues]
p. 96
And we are left to grope in darkness here,
Without a ray of light our lives to cheer.
Oh, stay! sweet Love's companion, ever stay!
And let us hope with love upon our way!
We reck not if a phantom thou hast been,
And we repent that we have ever seen
Thy light on earth to lead us far astray;
Forever stay! or ever keep away!
When Papsukul beheld in man's abodes
The change that spread o'er blasted, lifeless clods,
And heard earth's wailing through the waning light,
With vegetation passing out of sight,
From the doomed world to Heaven he quickly flies,
While from the earth are rising fearful cries.
To Samas' throne he speeds with flowing tears,
And of the future dark he pours his fears.
To Sin, the moon-god, Pap-su-kul now cries
O'er Ishtar's fate, who in black Hades lies;
O'er Earth's dire end, which with Queen Ishtar dies;
To Hea he appeals with mournful cries:
Queen Ishtar now is lying prone.
To Earth, our godly queen again, oh, bring!
I trust thy love, O Holy One!
To all the gods who reign o'er us on high
I pray! thus Hope thine aid implores,
Release our queen! To Hades quickly fly!
Thy Pap-su-kul with faith adores.
"The bull hath left the lowing kine bereaved,
And sulking dies in solitude;
The ass hath fled away, his mates bath grieved,
And women are no more imbued
With love, and drive their husbands far away,
And wives enjoy not their caress;
All peace and love have gone from earth this day,
And love on earth knows not its bliss.
Among all beasts, and men, and plants;
All love from them on earth have madly hurled,
For blissful love no more each pants;
And Samas' light is turned away from Earth,
And left alone volcanoes' fire;
The land is filled with pestilence and dearth,
All life on earth will soon expire."
From his high throne he let his sceptre drop,
And cried: "And thus, I rule o'er all mankind!
For this, I gave them life, immortal mind;
To earth's relief, my herald shall quick go,
I hear thy prayer, and song of Ishtar's woe."
"Go! At-su-su-namir, with thy bright head!
With all thy light spring forth! and quickly speed;
Towards the gates of Hades, turn thy face!
And quickly fly for me through yonder space.
Before thy presence may the seven gates
Of Hades open with their gloomy grates;
May Allat's face rejoice before thy sight,
Her rage be soothed, her heart filled with delight;
But conjure her by all the godly names,
And fearless be,--towards the roaring streams
Incline thine ear, and seek the path there spread.
Release Queen Ishtar! raise her godly head!
And sprinkle her with water from the stream;
Her purify! a cup filled to the brim
Place to her lips that she may drink it all.
The herald as a meteor doth fall,
With blazing fire disparts the hanging gloom
Around the gates of that dark world of doom."
COLUMN IV
RELEASE OF ISHTAR--HER ATTEMPTS TO BRING TO LIFE TAMMUZ, HER FIRST LOVER
When Allat saw the flaming herald come,And his bright light dispelling all her gloom,
She beat her breast; and at him furious foams
In rage, and stamping shakes all Hades' domes,
Thus cursed the herald, At-su-su-namir:
"Away! thou herald! or I'll chain thee here
In my dark vaults, and throw thee for thy food
The city's garbage, which has stagnant stood,
With impure waters for thy daily drink,
And lodge thee in my prison till you sink
From life impaled in yonder dismal room
Of torture; to thy fate so thou hast come?
Thine offspring with starvation I will strike!"
At last obedient doth Allat speak:
"Go, Namtar! and the iron palace strike!
O'er Asherim 1 adorned let the dawn break!
And seat the spirits on their thrones of gold!
Let Ishtar Life's bright waters then behold,
And drink her fill, and bring her then to me;
From her imprisonment, I send her free."
And Namtar then goes through the palace walls,
And flings the light through all the darkened halls,
And places all the spirits on their thrones,
Leads Ishtar to the waters near the cones 1.
She drinks the sparkling water now with joy,
Which all her form doth cleanse and purify.
And he at the first gate her robe returns,
And leads her through the second; where he turns,[paragraph continues]
p. 99
And gives her bracelets back;--thus at each door
Returns to her her girdle, gems; then o'er
Her queenly brow he placed her shining crown.
With all her ornaments that were her own,
She stands with pride before the seventh gate,
And Namtar bows to her in solemn state:
"Thou hast no ransom to our queen here paid
For thy deliverance, yet thou hast said
Thy Tammuz thou didst seek within our walls,
Turn back! and thou wilt find him in these halls.
To bring him back to life the waters pour
Upon him; they thy Tammuz will restore;
With robes thou mayst adorn him and a crown
Of jewels, and thy maid with thee alone
Shall give thee comfort and appease thy grief.
Kharimtu, Samkha come to thy relief!"
Now Ishtar lifts her eyes within a room
Prepared for her, and sees her maidens come,
Before a weird procession wrapped in palls,
That soundless glide within and fills the halls.
Before her now they place a sable bier
Beside the fount-, and Ishtar, drawing near,
Raised the white pall from Tammuz's perfect form.
The clay unconscious, had that mystic charm
Of Beauty sleeping sweetly on his face,--
Of agony or sorrow left no trace:
But, oh! that awful wound of death was there
With its deep mark;--the wound, and not the scar.
When Ishtar's eyes beheld it, all her grief
Broke forth afresh, refusing all relief;
She smote her breast in woe, and moaning cried,
Nor the bright waters to his wound applied:
"O Tammuz! Tammuz! turn thine eyes on me!
Thy queen thou didst adorn, before thee see!
Behold the emeralds and diamond crown
Thou gavest me when I became thine own!
Alas! he answers not; and must I mourn
Forever o'er my love within this bourne?
p. 100
But, oh! the waters from this glowing stream!
Perhaps those eyes on me with love will beam,
And I shall hear again his song of love.
Oh, quickly let these waters to me prove
Their claim to banish death with magic power!"
Then with her maids, she o'er his form doth pour
The sparkling drops of life-
"He moves! he lives!
What happiness is this my heart receives?
O come, my Tammuz! to my loving arms!"
And on breast his breathing form she warms;
With wondering eyes he stares upon his queen,
And nestling closed his eyes in bliss again.
Footnotes
98:1 "Asherim," literally "stone stakes" or "cones," the symbols of the goddess Asherah or Ishtar (Sayce), but Calmet says that the god Ashima is a deity of very uncertain origin, and that the name "Ashima" may very well compared with the Persian "asuman" ("heaven"); in "Zend," "acmano," so Gesonius in his Man. Lex., 1832. This also, according to the magi, is the name of the angel of death, who separates the souls of men from their bodies, Cal. Dic. p. 106. Cones are to be seen in the British Museum which are probably of the character which represented Elah-Gabalah, the sun-god, adored in Rome during the reign of Heliogabalus. The symbol and worship came from Hamath in Syria.COLUMN V
TAMMUZ IS RESTORED TO LIFE BY THE WATERS OF LIFE--HIS SONG OF LOVE
The nectared cup the queen placed to his lips,And o'er his heaving breast the nectar drips,
And now his arms are folded round his queen,
And her fond kisses he returns again;
And see! they bring to him his harp of gold,
And from its strings, sweet music as of old
His skilful hands wake through the sounding domes;
Oh, how his Song of Love wakes those dark rooms!
Her faithful eyes have sought for me,
My Love comes to me with her charms;
Let all the world now happy be!
My queen has come again!
Forever, dearest, let me rest
Upon the bosom of my queen!
Thy lips of love are honeyed best;
Come! let us fly to bowering green!
To our sweet bower again.
That dearest gift which gods have given,
Through all my soul let it be driven,
And make my heart its dearest haven,
For Love returns the kiss!
Oh! let me pillow there within
Thy breast, and, oh, so sweetly rest,
My life anew shall there begin;
On thy sweet charms, oh, let me feast!
Life knows no sweeter bliss.
Oh, let me feast upon thy lips,
As honey-bird the nectar sips,
And drink new rapture through my lips,
As honey-bee its head thus drips
In nectarine abyss!
O Love, sweet queen I my heart is thine!
My Life I clasp within mine arms!
My fondest charmer, queen divine!
My soul surrenders to thy charms,
In bliss would fly away.
No dearer joy than this I want;
If love is banished from that life
There bodyless, my soul would pant,
And pine away in hopeless grief,
If love be fled away.
If Love should bide and fold her wings
In bowers of yonder gleaming skies,
Unmeaning then each bard oft sings
Of bliss that lives on earth and dies,--
I want such love as this.
I want thy form, thy loving breast,
Mine arms of love surrounding thee,
And on thy bosom sweetly rest,
Or else that world were dead to me.
No other life is bliss.
With joy to yonder blissful clime;
But if not so, then let me flow
To soil and streams through changing time,
To me would be more bliss.
For then, in blooming flowerets, I
Could earth adorn, my soul delight,
And never thus on earth could die;
For though I should be hid from sight,
Would spring again with joy!
And sing as some sweet warbling bird,
Or in the breezes wave as grain,
As yellow sun-birds there have whirred
On earth, could I thus live again,
That beauteous world enjoy!
'Mid safflower-fields or waving cane,
Or in the honeysuckles lie,
In forms of life would breathe again,
Enjoy Earth's sweetest revelry,
And ever spring again!
Each life to me new joys would bring,
In breast of beast or bird or flower,
In each new form new joys would spring,
And happy, ever, Love would soar!
Triumphant filled with joy!
In jujube or tamarisk
Perhaps would come to life again,
Or in the form of fawns would frisk
'Mid violets upon the plain;
But I should live again!
And throb beneath the glistening dew,
In bamboo tufts, or mango-trees,
In lotus bloom, and spring anew,
In rose-tree bud, or such as these
On Earth return again!
In beast or singing bird or flower,
For kiss of love in hope could wait;
Perhaps I then would come that hour,
In form I have again!
And love you say, my queen, is there-,
Where I can breathe with life anew?
But is it so? My Love, beware!
For some things oft are false, some true,
But I thee trust again!
We fly away! from gates away!
Oh, life of bliss! Oh, breath of balm!
With wings we tread the Silver Way,
To trailing vines and feathery palm,
To bower of love again."
COLUMN VI
ESCAPE OF TAMMUZ FROM HADES--HIS DEATH IN THE CLOUDS-FUNERAL PROCESSION OF THE GODS-ISHTAR'S ELEGY OVER THE DEATH OF TAMMUZ--HIS REVIVAL IN HADES, WHERE HE IS CROWNED AS THE LORD OF HADES--ISHTAR'S RETURN BRINGS LIGHT AND LOVE BACK TO EARTH.
But see! they pass from those dark gates and walls,And fly upon the breeze from Hades' halls,
Hark! hark! the sounding harp is stilled! it falls
From Tammuz's hands! Oh, how its wailing calls
To you bright zi-ni 1 flying through the skies,
See! one sweet spirit of the wind swift flies
And grasps the wailing harp before it ends
Its wail of woe, and now beneath it bends,
With silent pinions listening to its strings,
Wild sobbing on the winds;--with wailing rings
The conscious harp, and trembles in her hands.
p. 104
A rush of pinions comes from myriad lands,
With moanings sends afar the awful tale,
And mourners brings with every whispering gale.
And see! the queen's companion fainting sinks!
She lays him on that cloud with fleecy brinks!
And oh! his life is ebbing fast away!
She wildly falls upon his breast, and gray
Her face becomes with bitter agony.
She tearless kneels, wrapt in her misery
And now upon his breast she lays her head,
With tears that gods, alas! with men must shed;
She turning, sobs to her sweet waiting maids,
Who weeping o'er her stand with bended heads:
"Assemble, oh, my maids, in mourning here,
The gods! and spirits of the earth bring near!"
They come! they come! three hundred spirits high,
The heavenly spirits come! the I-gi-gi!
From Heaven's streams and mouths and plains and vales,
And gods by thousands on the wings of gales.
The spirits of the earth, An-un-na-ci,
Now join around their sisters of the sky.
Hark! hear her weeping to the heavenly throng,
Imploring them to chant their mournful song:
"With your gold lyres, the dirge, oh, sing with me!
And moan with me, with your sweet melody;
With swelling notes, as zephyrs softly wail,
And cry with me as sobbing of the gale.
O Earth! dear Earth! oh, wail with thy dead trees!
With sounds of mountain torrents, moaning seas!
And spirits of the lakes, and streams, and vales,
And Zi-ku-ri of mountains' track-less trail,
join our bright legions with your queen! Oh, weep
With your sad tears, dear spirits of the deep!
Let all the mournful sounds of earth be heard,
The breeze hath carried stored from beast and bird;
Join the sweet notes of doves for their lost love
To the wild moans of hours,--wailing move;[paragraph continues]
p. 105
Let choirs of Heaven and of the earth then peal,
All living beings my dread sorrow feel!
Oh, come with saddest, weirdest melody,
join earth and sky in one sweet threnody!"
Ten thousand times ten thousand now in line,
In all the panoplies of gods divine;
A million crowns are shining in the light,
A million sceptres, robes of purest white!
Ten thousand harps and lutes and golden lyres
Are waiting now to start the Heavenly choirs.
And lo! a chariot from Heaven comes,
While halves rise from yonder sapphire domes;
A chariot incrusted with bright gems,
A blaze of glory shines from diadems.
See! in the car the queen o'er Tammuz bends,
And nearer the procession slowly wends,
Her regal diadem with tears is dimmed;
And her bright form by sorrow is redeemed
To sweeter, holier beauty in her woe;
Her tears a halo form and brighter flow.
Caparisoned with pearls, ten milk-white steeds
Are harnessed to her chariot that leads;
On snow-white swans beside her ride her maids,
They come! through yonder silver cloudy glades!
Behind her chariot ten sovereigns ride;
Behind them comes all Heaven's lofty pride,
On pale white steeds, the chargers of the skies.
The clouds of snowy pinions rustling rise!
But hark! what is that strain of melody
That fills our souls with grandest euphony?
Hear how it swells and dies upon the breeze!
To softest whisper of the leaves of trees;
Then sweeter, grander, nobler, sweeping comes,
Like myriad lyres that peal through Heaven's domes.
But, oh! how sad and sweet the notes now come!
Like music of the spheres that softly hum;
It rises, falls, with measured melody,
p. 106
With saddest notes and mournful symphony.
From all the universe sad notes repeat
With doleful strains of woe transcendent, sweet;
Hush! hear the song! my throbbing heart be still!
The songs of gods above the heavens fill!
O'er this dread loss of Heaven's queen.
With her, O sisters, join your sweetest plaint
O'er our dear Tammuz, Tammuz slain.
Come, all ye spirits, with your drooping wings,
No more to us sweet joy he brings;
Ah, me, my brother! 1
Oh, weep! oh, weep! ye spirits of the air,
Oh, weep! oh, weep! An-un-na-ci!
Our own dear queen is filled with dread despair.
Oh, pour your tears, dear earth and sky,
Oh, weep with bitter tears, O dear Sedu,
O'er fearful deeds of Nin-azu;
Ah, me, my brother!
Let joy be stilled! and every hope be dead!
And tears alone our hearts distil.
My love has gone!--to darkness he has fled;
Dread sorrow's cup for us, oh, fill!
And weep for Tammuz we have held so dear,
Sweet sisters of the earth and air;
Ah, me, my sister!
Oh, come ye, dearest, dearest Zi-re-nu,
With grace and mercy help us bear
Our loss and hers; our weeping queen, oh, see!
And drop with us a sister's tear.
Before your eyes our brother slain! oh, view;
Oh, weep with us o'er him so true;
Ah, me, his sister!
p. 107
Oh, weep, ye clouds, for my dead love!
Your queen in her dread sorrow now is prone.
O rocks and hills in tears, oh, move!
And all my heavenly flowerets for me weep,
O'er him who now in death doth sleep;
Ah, me, my Tammuz!
Oh, drop o'er him your fragrant dewy tears,
For your own queen who brings you joy,
For Love, the Queen of Love, no longer cheers,
Upon my heart it all doth cloy.
Alas! I give you love, nor can receive,
O all my children for me grieve;
Ah, me, my Tammuz!
Alas! alas! my heart is dying--dead!
With all these bitter pangs of grief
Despair hath fallen on my queenly head,
Oh, is there, sisters, no relief?
Hath Tammuz from me ever, ever, gone?
My heart is dead, and turned to stone;
Ah, me, his queen!
My sister spirits, O my brothers dear,
My sorrow strikes me to the earth;
Oh, let me die! I now no fate can fear,
My heart is left a fearful dearth.
Alas, from me all joy! all joy! hath gone;
Oh, Ninazu, what hast thou done?
Ah, me, his queen!"
And leave upon the skies Mar-gid-da's 2 glow,
That shines eternally along the sky,
The road where souls redeemed shall ever fly.
Prince Tammuz now again to life restored,
Is crowned in Hades as its King and Lord, 3
p. 108
And Ishtar's sorrow thus appeased, she flies
To earth, and fills with light and love the skies.
Footnotes
103:1 "Zi-ni," pronounced "Zee-nee," spirits of the wind.106:1 "Ah, me, my brother, and, ah, me, my sister! Ah, me, Adonis (or Tammuz), and ah, me, his lady (or queen)!" is the wailing cry uttered by the worshippers of Tammuz or Adonis when celebrating his untimely death. It is referred to in Jer. xxii. 18, and in Ezek. viii. 14 and Amos viii. 10 and Zech. xii. 10, 11. See Smith's revised edition of "Chal. Acc. of Genesis," by Sayce, pp. 247, 248.
107:2 "Mar-gid-da," "the Long Road." We have also given the Accadian name for "The Milky Way." It was also called by them the "River of Night."
107:3 "Lord. of Hades" is one of the titles given to Tammuz in an Accadian hymn found in "C. I. W. A." vol. iv. 27, I, 2. See also translation in "Records of the Past," vol. xi. p. 131.
TABLET VII--COLUMN I
THE KING AND SEER CONVERSING ON THEIR WAY TO KHASISADRA--INTERPRETATION OF THE KING'S DREAM IN THE PALACE ON THE NIGHT OF THE FESTIVAL
"The dream, my seer, which I beheld last nightWithin our tent, may bring to us delight.
I saw a mountain summit flash with fire,
That like a royal robe or god's attire
Illumined all its sides. The omen might
Some joy us bring, for it was shining bright."
And thus the Sar revealed to him his dream.
Heabani said, "My friend, though it did seem
Propitious, yet, deceptive was it all,
And came in memory of Elam's fall.
The mountain burning was Khumbaba's halls
We fired, when all his soldiers from the walls
Had fled;--the ni-takh-garri, 1--on that morn,
Of such deceptive dreams, I would thee warn!"
Some twenty kaspu they have passed this day,
At thirty kaspu they dismount to pray
And raise an altar, Samas to beseech
That they their journey's end may safely reach.
The tent now raised, their evening meal prepare
Beneath the forest in the open air;
And Izdubar brought from the tent the dream
He dreamed the festal night when Ishtar came
To him;--he reads it from a written scroll:
"Upon my sight a vision thus did fall:
I saw two men that night beside a god;
One man a turban wore, and fearless trod.
The god reached forth his hand and struck him down
Like mountains hurled on fields of corn, thus prone
p. 109
He lay; and Izdubar then saw the god
Was Anatu, 2 who struck him to the sod.
The troubler of all men, Samu's fierce queen,
Thus struck the turbaned man upon the plain.
He ceased his struggling, to his friend thus said:
'My friend, thou askest not why I am laid
Here naked, nor my low condition heed.
Accursèd thus I lie upon the mead;
The god has crushed me, burned my limbs with fire.'
The vision from mine eyes did then expire.
A third dream came to me, which I yet fear,
The first beyond my sight doth disappear.
A fire-god thundering o'er the earth doth ride;
The door of darkness burning flew aside;
Like a fierce stream of lightning, blazing fire,
Beside me roared the god with fury dire,
And hurled wide death on earth on every side;
And quickly from my sight it thus did glide,
And in its track I saw a palm-tree green
Upon a waste, naught else by me was seen."
Heabani pondering, thus explained the dream:
"My friend, the god was Samas, who doth gleam
With his bright glory, power, our God and Lord,
Our great Creator King, whose thunders roared
By thee, as through yon sky he takes his way;
For his great favor we should ever pray.
The man thou sawest lying on the plain
Was thee, O King,--to fight such power is vain.
Thus Anatu will strike thee with disease,
Unless thou soon her anger shalt appease;
And if thou warrest with such foes divine,
The fires of death shall o'er thy kingdom shine.
The palm-tree green upon the desert left
Doth show that we of hope are not bereft;
The gods for us their shares have surely weft, 3
One shall be taken, and the other left."
p. 110
Footnotes
108:1 "Ni-takh-garri," "the helpers," or soldiers of Khumbaba.109:2 "Anatu," the consort of Anu.
109:3 'Weft," weaved.
COLUMN II
CONTEST WITH THE DRAGONS IN THE MOUNTAINS--THE SEER IS MORTALLY WOUNDED--HIS CALM VIEW OF THE HEREAFTER
1"O Mam-mitu, thou god of fate and death!Thou spirit of fierce hate and parting breath,
Thou banisher of joy! O ghastly Law,
That gathers countless forces in thy maw!
A phantom! curse! and oft a blessing, joy!
All Heaven and earth thy hands shall e'er employ.
With blessings come, or curses to us bring,
The god who fails not with her hovering wing;
Nor god, nor man thy coming e'er may ken,
O mystery! thy ways none can explain."
If thou must come in earthquakes, fire, and flood,
Or pestilence and eftsoons cry for blood,
Thou comest oft with voice of sweetest love,
Our dearest, fondest passions, hopes, to move;
And men have worshipped thee in every form,
In fear have praised thee, sought thy feet to charm.
We reek not if you blessings, curses bring,
For men oft change thy noiseless, ghoulish wing.
And yet, thou comest, goddess Mam-mitu,
To bring with thee the feet of Nin-a-zu,
Two sister ghouls, remorseless, tearless, wan,
We fear ye not; ye bu'i-du, 2 begone!
Sweet life renews itself in holy love,
Your victory is naught! Ye vainly rove
Across our pathway with yours forms inane,
For somewhere, though we die, we live again.
3 The soul departed shall in glory shine,
As burnished gold its form shall glow divine,
And Samas there shall grant to us new life;
And Merodac, the eldest son, all strife[paragraph continues]
p. 111
Shall end in peace in yonder Blest Abode,
Where happiness doth crown our glorious God.
4 The sacred waters there shall ever flow,
To Anat's arms shall all the righteous go;
The queen of Anu, Heaven's king, our hands
Outstretched will clasp, and through the glorious lands
Will lead us to the place of sweet delights;
The land that glows on yonder blessèd heights
Where milk and honey from bright fountains flow.
And nectar to our lips, all sorrows, woe,
Shall end in happiness beside the Stream
Of Life, and joy for us shall ever gleam;
Our hearts with thankfulness shall sweetly sing
And grander blissfulness each day will bring.
And if we do not reach that spirit realm,
Where bodyless each soul may ages whelm
With joy unutterable; still we live,
With bodies knew upon dear Earth, and give
Our newer life to children with our blood.
Or if these blessings we should miss; in wood,
Or glen, or garden, field, or emerald seas,
Our forms shall spring again; in such as these
We see around us throbbing with sweet life,
In trees or flowerets.
This needs no belief
On which to base the fabric of a dream,
For Earth her children from death doth redeem,
And each contributes to continuous bloom;
So go your way! ye sisters, to your gloom!
Far on their road have come the king of fame
And seer, within the land of Mas 5 they came,
Nor knew that Fate was hovering o'er their way,
In gentle converse they have passed the day.
Some twenty kaspu o'er the hills and plain,
They a wild forest in the mountain gain,[paragraph continues]
p. 112
In a deep gorge they rode through thickets wild,
Beneath the pines; now to a pass they filed,
And lo! two dragons 6 near a cave contend
Their path! with backs upreared their coils unbend,
Extend their ravenous jaws with a loud roar
That harshly comes from mouths of clotted gore.
The sky o'erhead with lowering clouds is cast,
Which Anu in his rage above them massed.
Dark tempests fly above from Rimmon's breath,
Who hovers o'er them with the gods of death;
The wicked seven winds howl wildly round,
And crashing cedars falling shake the ground.
Now Tsil-lattu her black wings spreads o'er all,
Dark shrouding all the forest with her pall,
And from his steed for safety each dismounts,
And o'er their heads now break the ebon founts.
But hark! what is that dreadful roaring noise?
The dragons come! Their flaming crests they poise
Above, and nearer blaze their eyes of fire,
And see! upon them rush the monsters dire.
The largest springs upon the giant Sar,
Who parrying with the sword he used in war,
With many wounds it pierces, drives it back;
Again it comes, renews its fierce attack,
With fangs outspread its victims to devour,
High o'er the monarch's head its crest doth tower,
Its fiery breath upon his helm doth glow.
Exposed its breast! he strikes! his blade drives through
Its vitals! Dying now it shakes the ground,
And furious lashes all the forest round.
But hark! what is that awful lingering shriek
And cries of woe, that on his ears wild break?
A blinding flash, see! all the land reveals,
With dreadful roars, and darkness quick conceals
The fearful sight, to ever after come[paragraph continues]
p. 113
Before his eyes, wherever he may roam.
The King, alas! too late Heabani drags
From the beast's fangs, that dies beneath the crags
O'erhanging near the cave. And now a din
Loud comes from dalkhi that around them spin
In fierce delight, while hellish voices rise
In harsh and awful mockery; the cries
Of agony return with taunting groans,
And mock with their fell hate those piteous moans.
Amazed stands Izdubar above his seer,
Nor hears the screams, nor the fierce dalkhi's jeer;
Beneath the flashing lightnings he soon found
The cave, and lays the seer upon the ground.
His breaking heart now cries in agony,
"Heabani! O my seer, thou must not die!
Alas! dread Mam-mitu hath led us here,
Awake for me! arouse! my noble seer!
I would to gods of Erech I had died
For thee! my seer! my strength! my kingdom's pride!"
The seer at last revives and turns his face
With love that death touched not, his hand doth place
With friendly clasp in that of his dear king,
And says:
"Grieve not, belovèd friend, this thing
Called death at last must come, why should we fear?
'Tis Hades' mist that opens for thy seer!
The gods us brought, nor asked consent, and life
They give and take away from all this strife
That must be here, my life I end on earth;
Both joy and sorrow I have seen from birth;
To Hades' awful land, whence none return,
Heabani's face in sorrow now must turn.
My love for thee, mine only pang reveals,
For this alone I grieve."
A teardrop steals
Across his features, shining 'neath the light
The King has lit to make the cavern bright.
p. 114
"But oh, friend Izdubar, my King, when I
From this dear earth to waiting Hades fly,
Grieve not; and when to Erech you return,
Thou shalt in glory reign, and Zaidu learn
As thy companion all that thine own heart
Desires, thy throne thou wilt to him impart.
The female, Samkha, whom he brought to me
Is false, in league with thine own enemy.
And she will cause thee mischief, seek to drive
Thee from thy throne; but do not let her live
Within the walls of Erech, for the gods
Have not been worshipped in their high abodes.
When thou returnest, to the temple go,
And pray the gods to turn from thee the blow
Of Anu's fury, the strong god, who reigns
Above, and sent these woes upon the plains.
His anger raised against thee, even thee,
Must be allayed, or thy goods thou shalt see,
And kingdom, all destroyed by his dread power.
But Khasisadra will to thee give more
Advice when thou shalt meet the ancient seer,
For from thy side must I soon disappear."
The seer now ceased, and on his couch asleep
Spoke not, and Izdubar alone doth weep.
And thus twelve days were past, and now the seer
Of the great change he saw was drawing near
Informed his King, who read to him the prayers,
And for the end each friendly act prepares,
Then said: "O my Heabani, dearest friend,
I would that I thy body could defend
From thy fierce foe that brings the end to thee.
My friend in battle I may never see
Again, when thou didst nobly stand beside
Me; with my seer and friend I then defied
All foes; and must thou leave thy friend, my seer?
"Alas! my King, I soon shall leave thee here."
Footnotes
110:1 We have here quoted an Accadian Hymn to the goddess of fate. ("Trans. Soc. of Bib. Arch.," vol. ii. p. 39.)110:2 "Bu'i-du," ghosts.
110:3 Accadian hymn on the future of the just. (" Trans. Soc. of Bib. Arch.," vol. ii. p. 32.)
111:4 Assyrian fragmentary hymn ("W. A. L.," iv. 25, col. v.), translated in "Records of the Past," vol. xi. pp. 161, 162.
111:5 The land of Mas, Mr. Sayce supposes, was situated west of the Euphrates Valley.
112:6 "Dragons." The word for this animal is "tammabuk-ku." It was probably one of the monsters portrayed on the Babylonian cylinders now in the British Museum.
COLUMN III
HEABANI REVEALS TWO WONDERFUL VISIONS TO THE KING, ONE OF DEATH AND OBLIVION, AND THE OTHER OF HEAVEN, AND DIES IN THE ARMS OF THE KING
But, oh, my King! to thee I now revealA secret that my heart would yet conceal,
To thee, my friend, two visions I reveal:
The first I oft have dreamed beneath some spell
Of night, when I enwrapped from all the world,
With Self alone communed.
Unconscious hurled
By wingèd thought beyond this present life,
I seeming woke in a Dark World where rife
Was Nothingness,--a darksome mist it seemed,
All eke was naught;--no light for me there gleamed;
And floating 'lone, which way I turned, saw naught;
Nor felt of substance 'neath my feet, nor fraught
With light was Space around; nor cheerful ray
Of single star. The sun was quenched; or day
Or night, knew not. No hands had I, nor feet,
Nor head, nor body, all was void. No heat
Or cold I felt, no form could feel or see;
And naught I knew but conscious entity.
No boundary my being felt, or had;
And speechless, deaf, and blind, and formless, sad,
I floated through dark space,--a conscious blank!
No breath of air my spirit moved; I sank
I knew not where, till motionless I ceased
At last to move, and yet I could not rest,
Around me spread the Limitless, and Vast.
My cheerless, conscious spirit,--fixed and fast
In some lone spot in space was moveless, stark!
An atom chained by forces stern and dark,
With naught around me. Comfortless I lived
In my dread loneliness! Oh, how I grieved!
And thus, man's fate in Life and Death is solved
With naught but consciousness, and thus involved
p. 116
All men in hopes that no fruition have?
And this alone was all that death me gave?
That all had vanished, gone from me that life
Could give, and left me but a blank, with strife
Of rising thoughts, and vain regrets, to float;--
Away from life and light, be chained remote!
Oh, how my spirit longed for some lone crag
To part the gloom beneath, and rudely drag
My senses back! or with its shock to end
My dire existence;--to oblivion send
Me quickly! How I strove to curse, and break
That soundless Void, with shrieks or cries, to wake
That awful silence which around me spread!
In vain! in vain! all but my soul was dead.
And then my spirit soundless cried within:
"Oh, take me! take me back to Earth again!"
For tortures of the flesh were bliss and joy
To such existence! Pain can never cloy
The smallest thrill of earthly happiness!
'Twas joy to live on earth in pain! I'll bless
Thee, gods, if I may see its fields I've trod
To kiss its fragrant flowers, and clasp the sod
Of mother Earth, that grand and beauteous world!
From all its happiness, alas! was hurled
My spirit,--then in frenzy--I awoke!
Great Bel! a dream it was! as vanished smoke
It sped! and I sprang from my couch and prayed
To all the gods, and thus my soul allayed.
And then with blessings on my lips, I sought
My couch, and dropped away in blissful thought
In dream the second:
Then the Silver Sky
Came to me. Near the Stream of Life I lie:
My couch the rarest flowers; and music thrills
My soul! How soft and sweet it sounds from rills
And streams, and feathered songsters in the trees
Of Heaven's fruits!--e'en all that here doth please
The heart of man was there. In a dear spot
I lay, 'mid olives, spices, where was wrought[paragraph continues]
p. 117
A beauteous grotto; and beside me near,
Were friends I loved; and one both near and dear
With me reclined, in blissful converse, sweet
With tender thoughts.
Our joy was lull, complete!
The ministering spirits there had spread
Before us all a banquet on the mead,
With Heaven's food and nectar for our feast;
And oh, so happy! How our joy increased
As moments flew, to years without an end!
To Courts Refulgent there we oft did wend.
Beside a silver lake, a holy fane
There stood within the centre of the plain,
High built on terraces, with walls of gold,
Where palaces and mansions there enfold
A temple of the gods, that stands within
'Mid feathery palms and gesdin, 1 bowers green,
The city rises to a dizzy height,
With jewelled turrets flashing in the light,
Grand mansions piled on mansions rising high
Until the glowing summits reach the sky.
A cloud of myriad wings, e'er fills the sky,
As doves around their nests on earth here fly;
The countless millions of the souls on earth,
The gods have brought to light from mortal birth,
Are carried there from the dark world of doom;
For countless numbers more there still is room.
Through trailing vines my Love and I oft wind,
With arms of love around each other twined.
This day, we passed along the Stream of Life,
Through blooming gardens, with sweet odors rife;
Beneath the ever-ripening fruits we walk,
Along dear paths, and sweetly sing, or talk,
While warbling birds around us fly in view,
From bloom to bloom with wings of every hue;
And large-eyed deer, no longer wild, us pass,
With young gazelles, and kiss each other's face.
We now have reached the stately stairs of gold,
The city of the gods, here built of old.
p. 118
The pearlèd pillars rise inlaid divine,
With lotus delicately traced with vine
In gold and diamonds, pearls, and unknown gems,
That wind to capital with blooming stems
Of lilies, honeysuckles, and the rose.
An avenue of columns in long rows
Of varied splendor, leads to shining courts
Where skilful spirit hands with perfect arts
Have chiselled glorious forms magnificent,
With ornate skill and sweet embellishment.
Their golden sculpture view on every hand,
Or carvèd images in pearl that stand
In clusters on the floor, or in long rows;
And on the walls of purest pearl there glows
The painting of each act of kindest deed
Each soul performs on earth;--is there portrayed.
The scenes of tenderness and holy love,
There stand and never end, but onward move,
And fill the galleries of Heaven with joy,
And ever spirit artist hands employ.
The holiest deeds are carved in purest gold,
Or richest gems, and there are stored of old;
Within the inner court a fountain stood,
Of purest diamond moulded, whence there flowed
Into a golden chalice,--trickling cool,
The nectar of the gods,--a sparkling pool,
That murmuring sank beneath an emerald vase
That rested underneath;--the fountain's base.
We entered then an arcade arching long
Through saph'rine galleries, and heard the song
That swelling came from temples hyaline;
And passed through lazite courts and halls divine,
While dazzling glories brighter round us shone.
How sweet then came the strains! with grander tone!
And, oh, my King! I reached the gates of pearl
That stood ajar, and heard the joyous whirl
That thrilled the sounding domes and lofty halls,
And echoed from the shining jasper walls.
p. 119
I stood within the gate, and, oh, my friend,
Before that holy sight I prone did bend,
And hid my face upon the jacinth stairs.
A shining god raised me, and bade my fears
Be flown, and I beheld the glorious throne
Of crystaled light; with rays by man unknown.
The awful god there sat with brows sublime,
With robes of woven gold, and diadem
That beamed with blazing splendor o'er his head.
I thus beheld the god with presence dread,
The King of Kings, the Ancient of the Days,
While music rose around with joyous praise.
With awful thunders how they all rejoice!
And sing aloud with one commingled voice!
What happiness it was to me, my King!
From bower to temple I went oft to sing,
Or spread my wings above the mount divine,
And viewed the fields from heights cerulean.
Those songs still linger on dear memory's ear,
And tireless rest upon me, ever cheer.
But from the Happy Fields, alas! I woke,
And from my sight the Heavenly vision broke;
But, oh, my King, it all was but a dream!
I hope the truth is such, as it did seem
If it is true that such a Heavenly Land
Exists with happiness so glorious, grand,
Within that haven I would happy be!
But it, alas! is now denied to me.
For, oh, my King, to Hades I must go,
My wings unfold to fly to Realms of Woe;
In darkness to that other world unknown,
Alas! from joyous earth my life has flown.
Farewell, my King, my love thou knowest well;
I go the road; in Hades soon shall dwell;
To dwelling of the god Irkalla fierce,
To walls where light for me can never pierce,
The road from which no soul may e'er return,
Where dust shall wrap me round, my body urn,
p. 120
Where sateless ravens float upon the air,
Where light is never seen, or enters there,
Where I in darkness shall be crowned with gloom;
With crownèd heads of earth who there shall come
To reign with Anu's favor or great Bel's,
Then sceptreless are chained in their dark cells
With naught to drink but Hades' waters there,
And dream of all the past with blank despair.
Within that world, I too shall ceaseless moan,
Where dwell the lord and the unconquered one,
And seers and great men dwell within that deep,
With dragons of those realms we all shall sleep;
Where King Etana 1 and god Ner doth reign
With Allat, the dark Under-World's great queen,
Who reigns o'er all within her regions lone,
The Mistress of the Fields, her mother, prone
Before her falls, and none her face withstands
But I will her approach, and take her hands,
And she will comfort me in my dread woe.
Alas! through yonder void I now must go!
My hands I spread! as birds with wings I fly!
Descend! descend! beneath that awful sky!
The seer falls in the arms of Izdubar,
And he is gone;--'tis clay remaineth here,
Footnotes
117:1 "Gesdin," the Tree of Life and Immortality.120:1 "Etana," Lord or King of Hades. He is mentioned in the Creation series of, Legends as having reigned before the flood.
COLUMN IV
THE GRIEF OF THE KING OVER THE LOSS OF HIS SEER, AND HIS PRAYER TO THE MOON-GOD, WHO ANSWERS HIS PRAYER WITH A VISION
The King weeps bitterly with flowing tearsAbove his seer when from him disappears
The last faint breath; and then in deepest woe
He cries: "And through that desert must I go?
Heabani, thou to me wast like the gods;
Oh, how I loved thee! must thou turn to clods?
Through that dread desert must I ride alone;[paragraph continues]
p. 121
And leave thee here, Heabani, lying prone?
Alas, I leave thee in this awful place,
To find our Khasisadra, seek his face,
The son of Ubara-tutu, the seer;
Oh, how can I, my friend, thus leave thee here?
This night through those dark mountains I must go,
I can no longer bear this awful woe:
If I shall tarry here, I cannot sleep.
O Sin, bright moon-god, of yon awful deep!
I pray to thee upon my face, oh, hear
My prayer! my supplications bring thou near
To all the gods! grant thou to me,--e'en me,
A heart of strength and will to worship thee.
Oh, is this death like that the seer hath dreamed?
Perhaps the truth then on his spirit gleamed!
If Land of Silver Sky is but a myth,
The other dream is true! e'en all he saith!
Oh, tell me, all ye sparkling stars,
That wing above thy glorious flight,
And feel not Nature's jars;
But grandly, sweetly fling thy light
To our bright world beneath serene,
Hath mortals on thee known
Or viewed beyond,--that great Unseen,
Their future fate by gods been shown?
Oh, hear me, all ye gods on high!
To gods who love mankind I pray,
Despairing, oh, I cry!
Oh, drive these doubts and fears away!
And yet--and yet, what truths have we?
O wondrous mortal, must thou die?
Beyond this end thou canst not see,
O Life! O Death! O mystery!
The body still is here, with feeling dead!
And sight is gone!--and hearing from his dead,
Nor taste, nor smell, nor warmth, nor breath of life!
Where is my seer? Perhaps, his spirit rife
p. 122
E'en now in nothingness doth wander lone!
In agony his thoughts! with spirit prone!
In dread despair!--If conscious then, O gods!
He spake the truth!--His body to the clods
Hath turned! By this we feel, or hear, or see,
And when 'tis gone,--exist?--in agony!
To Hades hath he gone? as he hath thought!
Alas, the thought is torture, where have wrought
The gods their fearful curse! Ah, let me think!
The Silver Sky? Alas, its shining brink
He hath not crossed. The wrathful gods deny
Him entrance! Where, oh, where do spirits fly
Whom gods have cursed? Alas, he is condemned
To wander lone in that dark world, contemned
And from the Light of Happy Fields is barred!
Oh, why do gods thus send a fate so hard,
And cruel? O dear moon-god, moon-god Sin!
My seer hath erred. Receive his soul within
To joys prepared for gods and men! Though seer
He was, he immortality did fear,
As some unknown awakening in space.
Oh, turn upon him thy bright blessèd face!
He was my friend! O moon-god, hear my prayer!
Imploring thee, doth pray thine Izdubar!"
And lo! a vision breaks before his eyes!
The moon-god hides the shadows of the skies,
And sweeps above with his soft, soothing light
That streams around his face; he drives the night
Before his rays, and with his hands sweet peace
He spreads through all the skies; and Strife doth cease!
A girdle spans the Heavens with pure light
That shines around the River of the Night,
Within the circling rays a host appears!
The singers of the skies, as blazing spheres!
Hark! Hear their harps and lyres that sweetly sound!
They sing! Oh, how the glowing skies resound!
Supreme thy love shall ever reign;[paragraph continues]
Our souls for joy cannot restrain,
Sweep! Sweep thy lyres again!
The former things 1a--are passed away,
Which we on earth once knew below;
And in this bright eternal day
We happiness alone can know
Where bliss doth ever flow."
Footnotes
123:1a Literally, "the former names," which appears on a fragment of the epic translated by Mr. Sayce. See epic 259, which Smith's "C. A. of Gen.," p. 259 he has rendered "the former name, the new name."COLUMN V
THE KING BURIES HIS SEER IN THE CAVE, AND CONTINUING HIS JOURNEY, HE MEETS TWO FIERY GIANTS WHO GUIDE THE SUN IN THE HEAVENS--THEY MAKE MERRY OVER THE KING, AND DIRECT HIM ON HIS WAY
The King within the cave his seer entombs,And mourning sadly from the cavern comes;
The entrance closes with the rocks around,
Again upon his journey he is bound.
But soon within the mountains he is lost
Within the darkness,--as some vessel tost
Upon the trackless waves of unknown seas,
But further from the awful cavern flees.
The morning breaks o'er crags and lonely glens,
And he dismayed, the awful wild now scans.
He reins his steed and wondering looks around,
And sees of every side a mystic ground.
Before him stands the peak of Mount Masu, 1b
The cliffs and crags forlorn his eyes swift view,
And cedars, pines, among the rocks amassed,
That weirdly rise within the mountain fast.
Hark! hear that dreadful roaring all around!
What nameless horror thrills the shaking ground?
p. 124
The King in terror stares! and see! his steed
Springs back! wild snorting,--trembling in his dread.
Behold! behold those forms there blazing bright!
Fierce flying by the earth with lurid light;
Two awful spirits, demons, or fierce gods,
With roaring thunders spring from their abodes!
From depths beneath the earth the monsters fly,
And upward lift their awful bodies high,
Yet higher!--higher! till their crests are crowned
By Heaven's gates; thus reaching from the ground
To heights empyrean, while downward falls
Each form, extending far 'neath Hades' walls.
And see! each god as molten metal gleams,
While sulphurous flame from hell each monster climbs!
Two fiery horrors reaching to the skies
While wrathful lightning from each monster flies!
Hell's gate they guard with Death's remorseless face,
And hurl the sun around the realms of space
E'en swifter than the lightning, while it goes
Along its orbit, guided by their blows.
Dire tempests rise above from their dread blows,
And ever round a starry whirlwind glows;
The countless stars thus driven whirl around,
With all the circling planets circling round.
The King astounded lifts his staring eyes,
Into his face gray fear, with terror flies;
As they approach, his thoughts the King collects,
Thus over him one of the gods reflects.
"Who cometh yonder with the form of gods?"
The second says: "He comes from man's abodes,
But with a mortal's feebleness he walks;
Behold upon the ground alone he stalks."
One lifts his mighty arm across the sky,
And strikes the sun as it goes roaring by
The fiery world with whiter heat now glows,
While a vast flood of flame behind it flows,
That curling, forms bright comets, meteors,[paragraph continues]
p. 125
And planets multiplies, and blazing stars;
The robe of flames spreads vast across the sky.
Adorned with starry gems that sparkling fly
Upon the ambient ether forming suns
That through new orbits sing their orisons;
Their pealing thunders rend the trembling sky,
The endless anthem of eternity.
The monster turning to the King then says,
When nearer now his awful form doth blaze:
"So thus you see, my son, the gods are strong,
And to provoke great power, is foolish, wrong;
But whither goest thou, thou sad-eyed King,
What message hast thou;--to us here would bring?"
The King now prostrate to the monsters prayed:
"Ye gods or demons, I within your glade
Of horrors, have unwilling come to seek
Our Khasisadra, who a spell can make
To turn the anger of the gods away.
Immortal lives the seer beside the sea,
He knoweth death and life, all secret things;
And this alone your servant to you brings.
The goddess sought my hand, which I denied,
And Anu's fury thus I have defied;
This all my troubles caused, show me the way
To Khasisadra, this I ask and pray."
The god's vast face broke out with wondrous smiles,
And laughing, ripples rolled along for miles;
His mouth wide opened its abyss and yawned,
As earthquake gulf, far spreading through the ground.
His roaring laughter shakes the earth around,
"Ho! ho! my son! so you at last have found
The Queen can hate, as well as love her friends,
And on thy journey Ishtar's love thee sends?
A mortal wise thou wast, to her refuse,
For she can do with man what she may choose.
A mortal's love, in truth, is wondrous strong,
A glorious thing it is, Life's ceaseless song!
p. 126
Within a cave upon the mountain side,
Thou there thy footsteps must to Hades guide,
Twelve kaspu go to yonder mountain gates,
A heart like thine may well defy the fates.
A darkness deep profound doth ever spread
Within those regions black,--Home of the Dead.
Go, Izdubar! within this land of Mas,
Thy road doth lead, and to the west 2 doth pass,
And may the maidens sitting by the walls
Refresh thee, lead thee to the Happy Halls."
The path they take behind the rising sun
The setting sun they pass,--with wings have flown
The scorpion men, 3 within wide space have gone,
Thus from his sight the monsters far have flown.
Footnotes
123:1b Mount Masu, the Mountains of Masius, or "Mons Masius" of Strabo (vi. 12, §§ 4, 14, 2, etc.), may be referred to by the author of the epic. These mountains are now known to the Turks as Jebel Tur and Karaiah Dag.--Rawlinson's "Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii. pp. 9 and 25.126:2 Mr. Sayce translates thus: "the path of the sun."
126:3 He also names the monsters "the scorpion men," and refers to an Assyrian cylinder on which two composite winged monsters are carved, with the winged emblem of the supreme god in the centre above them. The monsters have the feet of lions and the tails of scorpions. See illustration in Smith's revised edition, by Sayce, "Chald. Acc. of Gen.," p. 276. The monsters were supposed to fly ahead of the sun, and as it passed guide it along its orbit.
COLUMN VI
IZDUBAR ENTERS HADES--THE SONG OF THE DALKHI IN THE CAVERN OF HORRORS--THE KING PASSES THROUGH HADES TO THE GARDEN OF THE GODS, AND SEES THE WONDERFUL FOUNTAIN OF LIFE'S WATERS
In a weird passage to the Under-World,Where demon shades sit with their pinions furled
Along the cavern's walls with poisonous breath,
In rows here mark the labyrinths of Death.
The King with torch upraised, the pathway finds,
Along the way of mortal souls he winds,
Where shades sepulchral, soundless rise amid
Dark gulfs that yawn, and in the blackness hide
Their depths beneath the waves of gloomy lakes
And streams that sleep beneath the sulphurous flakes
That drift o'er waters bottomless, and chasms;
Where moveless depths receive Life's dying spasms.
p. 127
Here Silence sits supreme on a drear throne
Of ebon hue, and joyless reigns alone
O'er a wide waste of blackness,--solitude
Black, at her feet, there sleeps the awful flood
Of mystery which grasps all mortal souls,
Where grisly horrors sit with crests of ghouls,
And hateless welcome with their eyes of fire
Each soul;--remorseless lead to terrors dire;
And ever, ever crown the god of Fate;
And there, upon her ebon throne she sate
The awful fiend, dark goddess Mam-mitu,
Who reigns through all these realms of La-Atzu. 1
But hark! what are these sounds within the gloom?
And see! long lines of torches nearer come!
And now within a recess they have gone;
The King must pass their door! perhaps some one
Of them may see him! turn the hags of gloom
Upon him, as he goes by yonder room!
He nearer comes, and peers within; and see!
A greenish glare fills all the cave! and he
Beholds a blaze beneath a cauldron there;
Coiled, yonder lie the Dragons of Despair;
And lo! from every recess springs a form
Of shapeless horror! now with dread alarm
He sees the flitting forms wild whirling there,
And awful wailings come of wild despair:
But hark! the dal-khis' song rings on the air!
With groans and cries they shriek their mad despair.
Your madness, hate, and fell despair,
And fling your darts at each we mark,
That we may welcome victims here.
Then sing your song of hate, ye fiends,
And hurl your pestilential breath,
Till every soul before us bends,
And worship here the god of Death.
p. 128
They see not, hear not many things;
The unseen forces do not weigh,
And each an unknown mystery brings.
In error still for e'er and aye,
They delve for phantom shapes that ride
Across their minds alone,--and they
But mock the folly of man's pride.
In error still for e'er and aye!
They learn but little all their lives,
And Wisdom ever wings her way,
Evading ever,--while man strives!
But hark! another song rings through the gloom,
And, oh, how sweet the music far doth come!
Oh, hear it, all ye souls in your despair,
For joy it brings to sorrowing ones e'en here!
"There is a Deep Unknown beyond,
That all things hidden well doth weigh!
On man's blind vision rests the bond
Of error still for e'er and aye!
But to the mighty gods, oh, turn
For truth to lead you on your way,
And wisdom from their tablets learn,
And ever hope for e'er and aye!"
As those sweet sounds resound within the room;
And now a glorious light doth shine around,
Their rays of peace glide o'er the gloomy ground.
And lo! 'tis Papsukul, our god of Hope,--
With cheerful face comes down the fearful slope
Of rugged crags, and blithely strides to where
Our hero stands, amid the poisonous air,
And says:
"Behold, my King, that glorious Light
That shines beyond! and eye no more this sight[paragraph continues]
p. 129
Of dreariness, that only brings despair,
For phantasy of madness reigneth here!"
The King in wonder carefully now eyes
The messenger divine with great surprise,
And says:
"But why, thou god of Hope, do I
Thus find thee in these realms of agony?
This World around me banishes thy feet
From paths that welcome here the god of Fate
And blank despair, and loss irreparable.
Why comest thou to woe immeasurable?"
"You err, my King, for hope oft rules despair;
I ofttimes come to reign with darkness here;
When I am gone, the god of Fate doth reign;
When I return, I soothe these souls again."
"So thus you visit all these realms of woe,
To torture them with hopes they ne'er can know?
Avaunt! If this thy mission is on Earth
Or Hell, thou leavest after thee but dearth!"
"Not so, my King! behold yon glorious sphere,
Where gods at last take all these souls from here!
Adieu! thou soon shalt see the World of Light,
Where joy alone these souls will e'er delight."
The god now vanishes away from sight,
The hero turns his face toward the light;
Nine kaspu walks, till weird the rays now gleam,
As zi-mu-ri behind the shadows stream.
He sees beyond, umbrageous grots and caves,
Where odorous plants entwine their glistening leaves.
And lo! the trees bright flashing gems here bear!
And trailing vines and flowers do now appear,
That spread before his eyes a welcome sight,
Like a sweet dream of some mild summer night.
But, oh! his path leads o'er that awful stream,
Across a dizzy arch 'mid sulphurous steam
That covers all the grimy bridge with slime.
He stands perplexed beside the waters grime,
Which sluggish move adown the limbo black,
With murky waves that writhe demoniac,--[paragraph continues]
p. 130
As ebon serpents curling through the gloom
And burl their inky crests, that silent come
Toward the yawning gulf, a tide of hate;
And sweep their dingy waters to Realms of Fate.
He cautious climbs the slippery walls of gloom,
And dares not look beneath, lest Fate should come;
He enters now the stifling clouds that creep
Around the causeway, while its shadows sleep
Upon the stream that sullen moves below,--
He slips!--and drops his torch! it far doth glow
Beneath him on the rocks! Alas, in vain
He seeks a path to bring it back again.
It moves! snatched by a dal-khu's hand it flies
Away within the gloom, then falling dies
Within those waters black with a loud hiss
That breaks the silence of that dread abyss.
He turns again, amid the darkness gropes,
And careful climbs the cragged, slimy slopes,
And now he sees, oh, joy! the light beyond!
He springs! he flies along the glowing ground,
And joyous dashes through the waving green
That lustrous meets his sight with rays serene,
Where trees pure amber from their trunks distil,
Where sweet perfumes the groves and arbors fill,
Where zephyrs murmur odors from the trees,
And sweep across the flowers, carrying bees
With honey laden for their nectar store;
Where humming sun-birds upward flitting soar
O'er groves that bear rich jewels as their fruit,
That sparkling tingle from each youngling shoot,
And fill the garden with a glorious blaze
Of chastened light and tender thrilling rays.
He glides through that enchanted mystic world,
O'er streams with beds of gold that sweetly twirled
With woven splendor 'neath the blaze of gems
That crown each tree with glistening diadems.
The sounds of streams are weft with breezes, chant
Their arias with trembling leaves,--the haunt[paragraph continues]
p. 131
Of gods! O how the tinkling chorus rings!
With rhythms of the unseen rustling wings
Of souls that hover here where joy redeems
Them with a happiness that ever gleams.
The hero stands upon a damasked bed
Of flowers that glow beneath his welcome tread,
And softly sink with 'luring odors round,
And beckon him to them upon the ground.
Amid rare pinks and violets he lies,
And one sweet pink low bending near, he eyes.
With tender petals thrilling on its stem,
It lifts its fragrant face and says to him,
"Dear King, wilt thou love me as I do thee?
We love mankind, and when a mortal see
We give our fragrance to them with our love,
Their love for us our inmost heart doth move."
The King leans down his head, it kissing, says,
"Sweet beauty, I love thee? with thy sweet face?
My heart is filled with love for all thy kind.
I would that every heart thy love should find."
The fragrant floweret thrills with tenderness,
With richer fragrance answers his caress.
He kisses it again and lifts his eyes,
And rises from the ground with glad surprise.
And see! the glorious spirits clustering round!
They welcome him with sweet melodious sound.
We hear their golden instruments of praise,
As they around him whirl a threading maze;
In great delight he views their beckoning arms,
And lustrous eyes, and perfect, moving forms.
And see! he seizes one bright, charming girl,
As the enchanting ring doth nearer whirl;
He grasps her in his arms, and she doth yield
The treasure of her lips, where sweets distilled
Give him a joy without a taint of guilt.
It thrills his heart-strings till his soul doth melt,
A kiss of chastity, and love, and fire,
A joy that few can dare to here aspire.
p. 132
The beauteous spirit has her joy, and flees
With all her sister spirits 'neath the trees.
And lo! the gesdin 1 shining stands,
With crystal branches in the golden sands,
In this immortal garden stands the tree,
With trunk of gold, and beautiful to see.
Beside a sacred fount the tree is placed,
With emeralds and unknown gems is graced,
Thus stands, the prince of emeralds, 2 Elam's tree,
As once it stood, gave Immortality
To man, and bearing fruit, there sacred grew,
Till Heaven claimed again Fair Eridu. 3
The hero now the wondrous fountain eyes;
Its beryl base to ruby stem doth rise,
To emerald and sapphire bands that glow,
Where the bright curvings graceful outward flow;
Around the fountain to its widest part,
The wondrous lazite bands now curling start
And mingle with bright amethyst that glows,
To a broad diamond band,--contracting grows
To uk-ni stone, turquoise, and clustering pearls,
Inlaid with gold in many curious curls
Of twining vines and tendrils bearing birds,
Among the leaves and blooming flowers, that words
May not reveal, such loveliness in art,
With fancies spirit hands can only start
From plastic elements before the eye,
And mingle there the charms of empery.
Beneath two diamond doves that shining glow
Upon the summit, the bright waters flow,
With aromatic splendors to the skies,
While glistening colors of the rainbow rise.
Here ends the tablet, 4 "When the hero viewed
The fountain which within the garden stood."
Footnotes
127:1 "La-Atzu," Hades, hell, the spirit-world.132:1 "Gesdin," the Tree of Life and Immortality.
132:2 See Sayce's edition Smith's "Chald. Acc. of Gen.," p. 264.
132:3 "Eridu," the Garden of Eden. Idem, pp. 84-86.
132:4 "Tablet of the series; when the hero Izdubar saw the fountain."--Sayce's edition Smith's "Chald. Acc. of Gen.," p. 264, l. 14.
TABLET VIII-COLUMN I
THE KING'S ADVENTURE AT THE GATE OF THE GARDEN OF THE GODS WITH THE TWO MAIDENS--ONE OF THEM LEADS HIM INTO THE HAPPY HALLS--SONGS OF THE SABITU AND ZI-SI.
A gate half opened shows the silvery seaYet distant shining lambent on his way.
And now he sees young Siduri, 1 whose breast
Infuses life; all nature she hath blest,
Whose lips are flames, her arms are walls of fire,
Whose love yields pleasures that can never tire,
She to the souls who joy on earth here miss,
Grants them above a holier, purer bliss.
The maiden sits within a holy shrine
Beside the gate with lustrous eyes divine,
And beckons to the King, who nearer comes,
And near her glows the Happy Palace domes.
And lo! 'tis she his lips have fondly kissed
Within the garden, when like fleeing mist
She disappeared with the bright spirit Seven, 2
The Sabit, who oft glide from earth to Heaven.
And lo I one of the Seven, Sabitu,
Emerging from the gate doth jealous view
The coming hero who hath kissed her mate,
She angry springs within to close the gate,
And bars it, enters then the inner halls,
And Izdubar to her now loudly calls,
"O Sabitu! what see-est thou, my maid?
Of Izdubar is Sabitu afraid?
Thy gate thou barrest thus before my face.
Quick, open for me! or I'll force the brass!"
The maid now frightened opens wide the door.
p. 134
The Sar and Siduri now tread the floor
Of the bright palace where sweet joy doth reign.
Through crystal halls 'neath golden roofs the twain
Next go within a lofty ceilinged hall,
With shining pearlèd columns, golden wall,
And purple silken hangings at each door,
With precious gems inlaid upon the floor;
Where couches grand are spread for one to rest
Beneath the softened rays that sweet invest
The senses with a thrill of happiness;
Where Siduri with joy all souls doth bless.
The maid sits on a couch and turns her face
Toward the King with that immortal grace
That love to gods and men will e'er bestow.
Their eyes now mingling with a happy glow,
The maiden sweetly says: "Where wouldst thou go?
Within these Happy Halls we joy but know,
And if thou wilt, my King, my heart is thine!
Our love will ever bring us bliss divine."
"Alas, my maid, thy love to me is dear,
And sad am I that I must go from here.
I came from Erech by advice from one
I loved more than thou canst e'er know, but gone
From me is my Heabani, faithful seer.
Across a desert waste have I come here,
And he has there to dust returned,--to dust--
O how the love of my friend I did trust!
I would that we had never started here,
I now must find the great immortal seer."
The maiden turns her glowing eyes on him,
Replies: "My King, thou knowest joy may gleam,
Take courage, weary heart, and sing a song!
The hour of sorrow can never be long;
The day will break, and flood thy soul with joy,
And happiness thy heart will then employ!
Each day must end with all its sorrow, woe,
Oh, sing with me, dear heart! I love thee so!"
And lo! the curtains flung aside, now comes
p. 135
The joyous Sabitu from yonder rooms,
And gathering round, a song they gayly sing,
Oh, how with music the bright walls now ring!
If evil thou hast done, my King,
And to the gods thy offerings bring,
And pray! and pray!
The sea is roaring at thy feet,
The storms are coming, rain and sleet;
To all the gods,
Oh, pray to them I oh, pray!
Chorus
Oh, pray to them! oh, pray!
Thy city we will bless, O Sar!
With joy, with joy!
And prosper thee in peace and war
With joy, with joy!
And bless thee every day and night,
Thy kingly robes keep pure and bright;
Give thee bright dreams,
O glorious king of war!
Chorus
O glorious king of war!
And if thy hand would slay thy foes
In war, in war!
With thee returning victory goes
In war, in war!
We grant thee victory, my King;
Like marshes swept by storms, we bring
Our power to thee
With victory in war!
Chorus
With victory in war!
And if thou wouldst the waters pass,
The sea, the sea!
We'll go with thee in every place,
With thee, with thee!
To Hea's halls and glorious throne,
Where he unrivalled reigns alone,
To Hea go
Upon his throne of snow.
Chorus
Upon his throne of snow.
And if thine anger rules thy heart
As fire, as fire!
And thou against thy foes would start
With ire, with ire!
Against thy foes thy heart be hard,
And all their land with fire be scarred,
Destroy thy foes!
Destroy them in thine ire!
Chorus
Destroy them in thine ire!
And with the Zisi crowned she now appeared;
The corn-gods in a crescent round their queen,
She waves before the king her Nusku 3 green,
And sings with her sweet voice a joyful lay,
And all the Zisi join the chorus gay:
p. 137
Kara! Kara! 5
Yoked with the kine we gayly fly,
Kara! Kara!
The ploughman's hand is strong and drives
The glowing soil, the meadow thrives!
Before the oxen
Sa-lum-mat-u na-si. 6
Chorus
Sa-lum-mat-u na-si.
The harvesters are in the corn!
Kara! Kara!
Our feet are flying with the morn,
Kara! Kara!
We bring thee wealth! it is thine own!
The grain is ripe! oh, cut it down!
The yellow grain
Sa-lum-mat-u na-si.
Chorus
Sa-lum-mat-u na-si.
The fruit of death, oh, King, taste it not!
Taste not! taste not!
With fruit of Life the land is fraught
Around! around!
The fruit of Life we give to thee
And happiness, oh, ever see.
All joy is thine
Through Earth and Heaven's bound.
Chorus
Through Earth and Heaven's bound.
p. 138
And ripe! and ripe!
And ever ripens 'neath that sky
As gold! as gold!
Our corn is bearded, 7 thus 'tis known,
And ripens quickly when 'tis grown.
Be joy with thee,
Our love around thee fold!
Chorus
Our love around thee fold!
Our King from us now goes, now goes!
Away! away!
His royal robe behind him glows
Afar! afar!
Across the waves where Hea reigns
The waters swollen he soon gains!
To our great seer,
He sails to him afar!
Chorus
He sails to him afar!
And he will reach that glorious land
Away! away!
Amid our fruit-trees he will stand
That day! that day!
Our fruit so sweet the King will eat,
Nor bitter mingle with the sweet.
In our seer's land
That glows afar away!
Chorus
That glows afar away!
p. 139
The singing spirits from them fled, and he
Alone stood thinking by young Siduri.
The King leaned on his bow, and eyed the maid,
A happy look came in his eyes,--and fled,
For lo! the curtain quick aside is pushed,
And Sabitu within upon them rushed.
She stately glides across the shining floor,
And eyes them both, then turns toward the door.
But Izdubar is equal to the task,
With grace now smiling, of the maid doth ask:
"O Sabitu! wouldst thou tell me the way
To Khasisadra? for I go this day.
If I the sea may cross, how shall I go?
Or through the desert? thou the path mayst know."
The maiden startled looks upon his face,
And thus she answers him with queenly grace:
"So soon must go? Thou canst not cross the sea,
For thou wilt perish in the waves that way.
Great Samas once the way of me did ask,
And I forbade him, but the mighty task
He undertook, and crossed the mighty deep,
Where Death's dark waters lie in wait asleep:
His mighty car of gold swept through the skies,
With fiery chargers now he daily flies.
When I approach thee, thou from me wouldst flee?
But if thou must so soon thus go, the sea
Perhaps thou too canst cross, if thou wilt 'void
Death's waters, which relentless ever glide.
But Izdubar, Ur-Hea, here hath come!
The boatman of the seer, who to his home
Returns. He with an axe in yonder woods
A vessel builds to cross the raging floods.
If thou desirest not to cross with him,
We here will welcome thee through endless time;
But if thou goest, may they see thy face
Thou seekest,--welcome thee, and thy heart bless."
Footnotes
133:1 "Siduri," the "pourer" or "shedder forth," the "all-bountiful," the goddess who brings the rain and mists, and running streams to fill the vegetable world with its productions; the goddess who presides over productive nature. She was also called "the Goddess of Wisdom."133:2 Seven spirits of the earth and heaven, the daughters of Hea.
136:3 "Nusku," a budding or blooming rub or branch, the wand of the Queen, used in magical incantations, which was called the plant of Nusku, the divining-rod.
137:4 See Accadian songs, "C. I. W. A" vol. ii. 16, and translated by Mr. Sayce in "Records of the Past, vol. xi. pp. 154, 155.
137:5 "Kara!" cry out, sing, shout.
137:6 "Sa-lum-mat-u na-si," lift up the shadows, or be joyful.
138:7 "Our corn is bearded." This refers to the heads of wheat which are bearded. See translation by Mr. Sayce, "the corn is bearded." ("Records of the Past," vol. xi. p. 156.)
COLUMN II
THE KING ON LEAVING THE HAPPY HALLS MEETS UR-HEA, THE BOATMAN OF THE SEER KHASISADRA--THEY BUILD A SHIP AND EMBARK ON AN UNKNOWN SEA, AND ON THEIR VOYAGE PASS THROUGH THE WATERS OF DEATH
And Izdubar turned from the Halls and goesToward a fountain in the park, whence flows
A merry stream toward the wood. He finds
An axe beside the fount, and thoughtful winds,
Through groves of sandal-wood and mastic-trees
And algum, umritgana. Now he sees
The sig-a-ri and ummakana, pines,
With babuaku; and ri-wood brightly shines
Among the azuhu; all precious woods
That man esteems are grown around, each buds
Continuous in the softened, balmy air.
He stops beneath a musrilkanna where
The pine-trees spread toward the glowing sea,
Wild mingled with the surman, sa-u-ri.
The King, now seated, with himself communes,
Heeds not the warbling of the birds, and tunes
Of gorgeous songsters in the trees around,
But sadly sighing gazes on the ground:
"And I a ship must build; alas! I know
Not how I shall return, if I thus go.
The awful Flood of Death awaits me there,
Wide-stretching from this shore--I know not where."
He rests his chin upon his hand in thought,
Full weary of a life that woe had brought;
He says: "When I remember Siduri,
Whose heart with fondest love would comfort me
Within these Happy Halls, why should I go
To pain and anguish, death, mayhap, and woe?
But will I thus desert my kingdom, throne?
For one I know not! What! my fame alone!
Mine honor should preserve! and royal state!
Alas! this Fame is but a dream of--Fate![paragraph continues]
p. 141
A longing after that which does not cheer
The heart. Applause of men, or thoughtless sneer,
Is naught to me, I am alone! alone!
This Immortality cannot atone
For my hard fate that wrings mine aching heart.
I long for peace and rest, and I must start
And find it, leave these luring bright abodes,--
I seek the immortality of gods.
This Fame of man is not what it doth seem,
It sleeps with all the past, a vanished dream.
My duty calls me to my kingdom, throne!
To Khasisadra go, whose aid alone
Can save my people from an awful fate
That hangs above them, born of Fiends of hate.
And I shall there return without my seer!
I live; and he is dead. Why did I hear
His words advising me to come? Alas!
I sadly all my weary days shall pass;
No one shall love me as my seer, my friend.
But what said Siduri?--There comes an end
At last to sorrow, joy will hopeful spring
On wings of Light! Oh, how my heart will sing!
I bless ye all, ye holy spirits here!
Your songs will linger with me, my heart cheer;
Upon my way I turn with joy again!
How true your joyful song! your memory then
Will keep me hopeful through yon darkened way;
How bright this land doth look beside the sea!"
He looks across the fields; the river glows
And winds beside taprani-trees, and flows
By teberinth and groves of tarpikhi
And ku-trees; curving round green mez-kha-i,
Through beds of flowers, that kiss its waves and spring
Luxuriant,--with songs the groves far ring.
Now thinking of the ship, he turns his eyes,
Toward the fountain,--springs up with surprise!
"'Tis he! the boatman comes! Ur-Hea comes!
And, oh! at last, I'll reach the glistening domes[paragraph continues]
p. 142
Of Khasisadra's palaces,--at last
My feet shall rest,--upon that land be placed."
And now Ur-Hea nearer makes his way,
And Izdubar addressing him, doth say:
"Ur-Hea is thy name? from yonder sea
Thou comest, from the seer across the way?"
"Thou speakest truth, great Sar, what wouldst thou have?"
"How shall I Khasisadra reach? The grave
He hath escaped, Immortal lives beyond,
For I to him upon my way am bound;
Shall I the waters cross or take my way
Through yon wide desert, for I start this day?"
"Across the sea we go, for I with thee
Return to him,--I know the winding way.
Thine axe of bronze with precious stones inlaid
With mine, we'll use beneath the pine-trees' shade."
And now, within the grove a ship they made,
Complete and strong as wise Ur-Hea bade.
They fell the pines five gar in length, and hew
The timbers square, and soon construct a new
And buoyant vessel, firmly fixed the mast,
And tackling, sails, and oars make taut and fast.
Thus built, toward the sea they push its prow,
Equipped complete, provisioned, launch it now.
An altar next they raise and thus invoke
The gods, their evil-workings to revoke:
1 O Lord of Charms, Illustrious! who gives
Life to the Dead, the Merciful who lives,
And grants to hostile gods of Heaven return,
To homage render, worship thee, and learn[paragraph continues]
p. 143
Obedience! Thou who didst create mankind
In tenderness, thy love round us, oh, wind!
The Merciful, the God with whom is Life,
Establish us, O Lord, in darkest strife.
O never may thy truth forgotten be,
May Accad's race forever worship thee."
One month and fifteen days upon the sea,
Thus far the voyagers are on their way;
Now black before them lies a barren shore,
O'ertopped with frowning cliffs, whence comes a roar
Of some dread fury of the elements
That shakes the air and sweeping wrath foments
O'er winds and seas.
And see! a yawning cave,
There opens vast into a void dislave,
Where fremèd shadows ride the hueless waves.
Dread Ninazu whose deathless fury craves
For hapless victims lashes with a roar
The mighty seas upon that awful shore.
The Fiends of Darkness gathered lie in wait,
With Mammitu, the goddess of fierce hate,
And Gibil 2 with his spells, and Nibiru 3
The twin-god of black Fate, and grim Nusku 4
The keeper of red thunders, and Urbat 5
The dog of Death, and fiend of Queen Belat; 6
And Nuk-khu, and the black-browed Ed-hutu 7
The gods of darkness here with Tsi-lat-tu. 8
And see! Dark Rimmon 9 o'er a crag alone!
And Gibil with his blasting malisoun,
Above with his dark face maleficent,
Who wields a power o'er men omnipotent
Forlore! forlore! the souls who feel that blast
Which sweeps around that black forbidding coast!
Fierce whirling storms and hurricanes here leap,
With blasting lightnings maltalent and sweep
p. 144
The furious waves that lash around that shore,
As the fierce whirl of some dread maëlstrom's power!
Above the cavern's arch! see! Ninip 10 stands!
He points within the cave with beckoning hands!
Ur-Hea cries: "My lord! the tablets 1 say,
That we should not attempt that furious way!
Those waters of black death will smite us down!
Within that cavern's depths we will but drown."
"We cannot go but once, my friend, that road,"
The hero said, "'Tis only ghosts' abode!"
"We go, then, Izdubar, its depths will sound,
But we within that gloom will whirl around,
Around, within that awful whirlpool black,--
And once within, we dare not then turn back,--
How many times, my friend, I dare not say,
'Tis written, we within shall make our way."
The foaming tide now grasped them with its power,
And billowed round them with continuous roar;
Away! they whirl! with growing speed, till now
They fly on lightnings' wings and ride the brow
Of maddened tempests o'er the dizzy deep.
So swift they move,--the waves in seeming sleep
Beneath them, whirling there with force unseen.
But see! Updarting with a sulphurous gleen,
The hag of Death leaps on the trembling prow!
Her eyes, of fire and hate, turns on them now!
With famine gaunt, and haggard face of doom,
She sits there soundless in the awful gloom.
"O gods!" shrieked Izdubar in his despair,
Have I the god of Fate at last met here?
Avaunt, thou Fiend! hence to thy pit of Hell!
Hence! hence! and rid me of thy presence fell!"
And see! she nearer comes with deathless ire,
With those fierce, moveless, glaring eyes of fire!
Her wand is raised! she strikes![paragraph continues]
p. 145
"O gods!" he screams;
He falls beneath that bolt that on them gleams,
And she is gone within the awful gloom.
Hark! hear those screams!
"Accurst! Accurst thy doom!"
And lo! he springs upon his feet in pain,
And cries:
"Thy curses, fiend! I hurl again!"
And now a blinding flash disparts the black
And heavy air, a moment light doth break;
And see! the King leans fainting 'gainst the mast,
With glaring eyeballs, clenched hands,--aghast!
Behold! that pallid face and scaly hands!
A leper white, accurst of gods, he stands!
A living death, a life of awful woe,
Incurable by man, his way shall go.
But oh! the seer in all enchantments wise
Will cure him on that shore, or else he dies.
And see! the vessel's prow with shivering turns,
Adown the roaring flood that gapes and churns
Beneath like some huge boiling cauldron black,
Thus whirl they in the slimy cavern's track.
And spirit ravens round them fill the air,
And see! they fly! the cavern sweeps behind!
Away the ship doth ride before the wind!
The darkness deep from them has fled away,
The fiends are gone!--the vessel in the spray
With spreading sails has caught the glorious breeze,
And dances in the light o'er shining seas;
The blissful haven shines upon their way,
The waters of the Dawn sweep o'er the sea!
They proudly ride tip to the glowing sand,
And joyfully the King springs to the land.
Footnotes
142:1 This remarkable prayer is to be found among a collection of prayers which are numbered and addressed to separate deities.. It seems that the prayers were originally Accadian, and were afterward adopted by the Assyrians, and made to apply to one god (Hea). Professor Oppert and Professor Sayce think, however, that they are connected in one hymn to Hea. This may have been so after the Assyrians adopted them, but they are distinct, and addressed to separate gods. The one we have selected is addressed to Hea, the Creator of Mankind, Sayce edition Smith's "C. A. G.," pp. 75 to 80. The one we have selected is found at the top of page 77, idem.143:2 "Gibil," the god of fire, of spells and witchcraft.
143:3 "Nibiru," the god of fate, and ruler of the stars.
143:4 "Nusku," the gatekeeper of thunders.
143:5 "Urbat," the dog of Death.
143:6 "Belat" or "Allat," the Queen of Hades.
143:7 "Ed-hutu," god of darkness.
143:8 "Tsi-lat-tu," shades of night.
143:9 "Rimmon," god of storms.
144:10 "Ninip," god of bravery and war.
144:1 "Tablets." This may mean charts or scrolls similar to the charts used by modern navigators. Babylon communicated with all nations in commerce.
COLUMN III
KHASISADRA ON THE SHORE SEES THE VESSEL COMING, AND RETURNING TO HIS PALACE, SENDS HIS DAUGHTER MUA TO WELCOME IZDUBAR--MEETING OF THE KING AND SAGE
Beneath a ku-tree Khasisadra eyesThe spreading sea beneath the azure skies,
An agèd youth with features grave, serene,
Matured with godly wisdom; ne'er was seen
Such majesty, nor young, nor old,--a seer
In purpose high. The countenance no fear
Of death has marred, but on his face sublime
The perfect soul has left its seal through time.
"Ah, yes! the dream was clear, the vision true,
I saw him on the ship! Is it in view?
A speck! Ah, yes! He comes! he comes to me
My son from Erech comes across the sea!"
Back to his palace goes the holy seer,
And Mua 1 sends, who now the shore doth near;
As beautiful as Waters of the Dawn,
Comes Mua here, as graceful as a fawn.
The King now standing on the glistening sand,
Beholds the beauteous Mua where she stands,
With hands outstretched in welcome to the King,
"O thou sweet spirit, with thy snowy wing,
Oh, where is Khasisadra in this land?
I seek the aid of his immortal hand."
"Great Sar," said Mua, "hadst thou not a seer,
That thou shouldst come to seek my father here?"
"'Tis true, my daughter dear, a seer had I,
Whom I have lost,--a dire calamity;
By his advice and love I undertake
This journey. But alas! for mine own sake
He fell by perils on this lengthened way;
He was not strong, and feared that he should lay[paragraph continues]
p. 147
Himself to rest amid the mountains wild.
He was a warrior, with him I killed
Khumbaba, Elam's king who safely dwelt
Within a forest vast of pines, and dealt
Destruction o'er the plains. We razed his walls--
My friend at last before me dying falls.
Alas! why did my seer attempt to slay
The dragons that we met upon the way,
He slew his foe, and like a lion died.
Ah, me! the cause, when I the gods defied,
And brought upon us all this awful woe;
In sorrow o'er his death, my life must flow!
For this I came to find the ancient seer,
Lead me to him, I pray, if he lives here."
Then Mua leads him through the glorious land
Of matchless splendor, on the border grand
Of those wide Happy Fields that spread afar
O'er beaming hills and vales, where ambient air
With sweetest zephyrs sweeps a grand estrade,
Where softest odors from each flowering glade
Lull every sense aswoon that breathes not bliss
And harmony with World of Blessedness.
'Neath trees of luring fruits she leads the way,
Through paths of flowers where night hath fled away,
A wilderness of varied crystal flowers,
Where fragrance rests o'er clustering, shining bowers.
Each gleaming cup its nectared wine distils,
For spirit lips each chalice ever fills.
Beyond the groves a lucent palace shone
In grandest splendor near an inner zone;
In amethyst and gold divinely rose,
With glories scintillant the palace glows.
A dazzling halo crowns its lofty domes,
And spreading from its summit softly comes
With grateful rays, and floods the balustrades
And golden statues 'neath the high arcades;
A holy palace built by magic hand
With wondrous architecture, portals grand,[paragraph continues]
p. 148
And aurine turrets piled to dizzy heights,
Oh, how its glory Izdubar delights!
Beneath majestic arcades carved, they pass,
Up golden steps that shine like polished glass,
Through noble corridors with sculptured walls,
By lofty columns, archways to the halls
Of glories, the bright harbinger of fanes
Of greater splendor of the Heavenly plains.
Beneath an arch of gems the King espies
A form immortal, he who death defies.
Advancing forth the sage his welcome gives,
"'Tis Izdubar who comes to me and lives!"
Embracing him he leads him in a room,
Where many a curious graven tablet, tome,
And scrolls of quaint and old forgotten lore
Have slept within for centuries of yore.
The tablets high are heaped, the alcoves full,
Where truth at last has found a welcome goal.
In wisdom's room, the sage his guest has led,
And seats him till the banquet high is spread;
Of Izdubar he learns his journeys great,
How he for aid has left his throne of state.
The maid now comes, him welcomes to the hall
Of banquets, where are viands liberal,
And fruits, immortal bread, celestial wines
Of vintage old; and when the hero dines,
They lead him to his private chamber room
That overlooks the wondrous garden's bloom
Across the plain and jasper sea divine,
To Heaven's mountains rising sapphirine.
Four beauteous streams of liquid silver lead
Across the plain; the shining sea they feed;
The King reclines upon his couch at rest,
With dreams of happiness alone is blest.
Footnotes
146:1 "Mua," the waters of the dawn, the daughter of Khasisadra.COLUMN IV
THE KING IS CURED BY THE INCANTATIONS OF KHASISADRA AND HE BECOMES IMMORTAL
When Izdubar awakes, they lead the wayTo the bright fount beside the jasper sea.
The seer, with Mua and Ur-Hea, stands
Beside the King, who holily lifts his hands
Above an altar where the glowing rays
Of sacred flames are curling; thus he prays:
"Ye glorious stars that shine on high,
Remember me! Oh, hear my cry,
Su-ku-nu, 1 bright Star of the West!
Dil-gan, my patron star, oh, shine!
O Mar-bu-du, whose rays invest
Dear Nipur 2 with thy light divine,
The flames that shines, upon the Waste!
O Papsukul, thou Star of Hope,
Sweet god of bliss, to me, oh, haste,
Before I faint and lifeless drop!
O Adar 3 Star of Ninazu,
Be kind! O Ra-di-tar-tu-khu.
Sweet U-tu-ca-ga-bu, 4 dear Star
With thy pure face that shines afar!
Oh, pardon me! each glorious Star!
Za-ma-ma, 5 hear me! O Za-ma-ma!
Ca-ca-ma u Ca-ca-ma." 6
7 Remember him! O dear Za-ma-ma!
Ca-ca-ma u Ca-ca-ma."
p. 150
As Izdubar doth end his holy prayer
He kneels, and they now bear his body where
A snowy couch doth rest beneath a shrine
That stands near by the glowing fount divine,
And Khasisadra lifts his holy hands,
His incantation chants, and o'er him stands.
"O Bel, Lord of An-nu-na-ci,
O Nina, Hea's daughter! Zi! 8
This Incantation aid,
Remember us, Remember!
9 Ye tempests of High Heaven, be still!
Ye raging lightnings, oh, he calm!
From this brave man his strength is gone,
Before thee see him lying ill!
Oh, fill with strength his feeble frame,
O Ishtar, shine from thy bright throne!
From him thine anger turn away,
Come from thy glowing mountains, come!
From paths untrod by man, oh, haste!
And bid this man arise this day.
With strength divine as Heaven's dome,
His form make pure and bright and chaste!
The evil curse, oh, drive away!
Go! A-sac-cu-kab-bi-lu, 10 go!
O Nam-ta-ru-lim-nu, 1 oh, fly!
U-tuc-cu-lim-nu 2 from him flow!
A-lu-u-lim-nu, 3 hence! away!
E-ci-mu-lim-nu, 4 go! thou fiend!
Fly, Gal-lu-u-lim-nu, 5 afar!
Fly from his head! his life! I send
Thee, fiend! depart from Izdubar!
Go from his forehead, breast, and heart,
And feet! Avaunt! thou fiend! depart!
p. 151
Oh, from the Curse, Thou Spirit High!
And Spirit of the Earth, come nigh!
Protect him, may his spirit fly!
O Spirit of the Lord of Lands,
And Goddess of the Earthly Lands,
Protect him! raise with strength his hands!
Oh, make him as the Holy Gods,
His body, limbs, like thine Abodes,
And like the Heavens may he shine!
And like the Earth with rays divine!
Quick! with the khis-ib-ta 6 to bring
High Heaven's Charm--bind round his brow!
The sis-bu 7 place around his hands!
And let the sab-u-sat 8 bright cling!
The mus-u-kat 9 lay round him now,
And wrap his feet with rad-bat-bands, 10
And open now his zik-a-man 1
The sis-bu cover, and his hands
The bas-sat 2 place around his form!
From baldness and disease, this man
Cleanse, make him whole, head, feet, and hands!
O Purity, breathe thy sweet charm!
Restore his health and make his skin
Shine beautifully, beard and hair
Restore! make strong with might his loins!
And may his body glorious shine
As the bright gods!--
Ye winds him bear!
Immortal flesh to his soul joins!
p. 152
Thou Spirit of this man! arise!
Come forth with joy! Come to the skies!"
And lo! his leprosy has fled away!
He stands immortal,--purged! released from clay!
Footnotes
149:1 "Su-ku-nu" or "Kak-si-di," the star of the West.149:2 "Nipur," the city from which Izdubar came.
149:3 "Adar," the star of Ninazu, the goddess of death, who cursed him with leprosy in the cavern. This star was also called "Ra-di-tar-tu-khu."
149:4 "U-tu-ca-ga-bu," the star with the white or pure face.
149:5 "Za-ma-ma," another name for Adar. This is the deity for whom Izdubar or Nammurabi built the great temple whose top, in the language of the Babylonians, reached the skies. It was afterward called the "Tower of the Country" or "Tower of Babylon." This was perhaps the Tower of Babel. He also restored another temple called "Bite-muris," which was dedicated to the same goddess.
149:6 "Amen and amen!" The word amen" is usually repeated three times.
149:7 The response of the priest Khasisadra.
150:8 "Zi," spirits.
150:9 See "T. S. B. A.," vol. ii. p. 31.
150:10 "A-sac-cu-kab-bi-lu," evil spirit of the head.
150:1 "Nam-ta-ru-lim-nu," evil spirit of the life or heart.
150:2 "U-tuc-cu-lim-nu," evil spirit of the forehead.
150:3 "A-lu-u-lim-nu," evil spirit of the breast.
150:4 "E-ci-mu-lim-nu," evil spirit of the stomach.
150:5 "Gal-lu-u-lim-nu," evil spirit of the hands.
151:6 "Khis-ib-ta," a strip of parchment or linen on which was inscribed a holy text, a charm like that used by the Jews, a philactery.
151:7 "Sis-bu," the same as the preceding.
151:8 "Sab-u-sat," was perhaps a holy cloth, also inscribed in the same manner.
151:9 "Mus-u-kat" was also of the same character as the preceding.
151:10 "Rad-bat-bands," similar bands to the khis-ib-ta.
151:1 "Zik-a-man," this is unknown, it perhaps was the inner garment.
151:2 "Bas-sat," supposed to be the outside or last covering placed over the person so treated. That some such ceremony was performed in the case of Izdubar seems to be undoubted. See "Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch.," vol., ii. 31; also Sayce's edition "C. A. of G," p. 290.
COLUMN V
IZDUBAR FALLS IN LOVE WITH MUA, AND OFFERS HER HIS HAND
"O Mua! thou bright Waters of the Dawn!Oh, where art thou?" one cries as he doth run
Through the bright garden. See! 'tis Izdubar!
Immortal! glorious! our King of War!
And now in love is seeking Mua here.
He scarcely treads the ground as he comes near;
A glow of youth immortal on his cheek,
A form that sorrow, death, will never seek
Within these Happy Fields, his eyes with light
That Love alone may give, show his delight.
A dazzling pillared vista round him shines,
Where golden columns bear the bowering shrines,
With gemmèd domes that clustering round him rise,
'Mid fruit-trees, flashing splendors to the skies.
He goes through silver grots along a zone,
And now he passes yonder blazing throne,
O'er diamond pavements, passes shining seats
Whereon the high and holy conclave meets
To rule the empires vast that spread away
To utmost bounds in all their vast array.
Around the whole expanse grand cestes spread
O'er paths sidereal unending lead.
As circling wheels within a wheel they shine,
Enveloping the Fields with light divine.
A noontide glorious of shining stars,
Where humming music rings from myriad cars,
Where pinioned multitudes their harps may tune,
And in their holy sanctity commune.
p. 153
And see! here Mua comes! she stops and waits
Within a gesdin bower beside its gates. .
Around, above her spreads a flowering vine,
And o'er a ruby fountain almandine.
And on a graven garnet table grand,
Carved cups of solid pearl and tilpe 1 stand.
A Zadu 2 reservoir stands near, which rounds
The fount wherein the fragrant nectar bounds.
The ground is strewn with pari 3 gems and pearls,
Wherefrom the light now softly backward hurls
Its rays o'er couches of paruti 4 stone,
Soft cushioned, circling in the inner zone
Beside the shining kami-sadi way, 5
Where nectar fountains in their splendor play.
The path leads far along Life's beauteous stream,
That ever through this World of joy doth gleam.
And see! the hero comes! and now doth near
The maiden, where with Love she waits him here.
She flings a flowering garland, weaves it round
His form as he comes by! He turns around,
And she enwraps his breast and arms, and says:
"Dear Izdubar! and thus my lover strays!
I'll bind thee with this fragrant chain to keep
Thee ever by my side! thy pleasant sleep
Hath kept my lover from my side too long!"
"O thou sweet spirit, like a warbling song
Thy words are to my heart! I sought for thee,
And thy bright face and presence did not see;
I come to tell thee that I must return,
When from thy father all the past shall learn."
"And wilt thou go from me to earth again?
No! no! dear Izdubar, I thee enchain!"
p. 154
"'Tis true, my love, I must return to men;
My duty calls me to my throne again."
"Dear Izdubar! my friend! my love! my heart!
I cannot let thee from my soul depart!
Thou shinest in my breast as some bright star!
And shall I let thee from me go afar?"
"But Mua, we immortal are, and we
There might return; and thou on earth shalt see
The glories of my kingdom,--be my queen!
Upon a couch I'll seat thee, there to reign
With me, my beauteous queen,--beside me sit;
And kings will come to us and kiss thy feet.
With all my wealth I'll clothe thee, ever love
Thee, fairest of these glorious souls that move
Within this Happy World. My people there
Shall love us,--ever drive away all care!"
When Mua heard him offer thus his hand,
She then unbinds him,--thoughtful now doth stand.
Footnotes
153:1 "Tilpe," precious gem known only to the Babylonians.153:2 "Zadu," a precious gem known only to the Babylonians.
153:3 "Pari," an unknown gem.
153:4 "Paruti," an unknown gem.
153:5 "Kami-sadi," way, a path paved with unknown gems. These precious stones are mentioned on the various inscriptions in the list of precious jewels with gold, diamonds, pearls, etc., taken as spoils from their enemies.
COLUMN VI
MUA'S ANSWER
Sweet Mua lifts her eyes toward the heightsThat glow afar beneath the softened lights
That rest upon the mountain's crystalline.
And see! they change their hues incarnadine
To gold, and emerald, and opaline;
Swift changing to a softened festucine
Before the eye. And thus they change their hues
To please the sight of every soul that views
Them in that Land; but she heeds not the skies,
Or glorious splendor of her home; her eves
Have that far look of spirits viewing men
On earth, from the invisible mane,
That erstwhile rests upon the mortal eye,--
A longing for that home beyond the sky;
p. 155
A yearning for that bliss that love imparts,
Where pain and sorrow reach no mortal hearts.
A light now breaks across her beauteous face;
She, turning, says to him with Heavenly grace:
"Dear Izdubar, thou knowest how I love
Thee, how my heart my love doth daily prove;
And, oh, I cannot let thee go alone.
I know not what awaits each soul there gone.
Our spirits often leave this glorious land,
Invisible return on earth, and stand
Amidst its flowerets, 'neath its glorious skies.
Thou knowest every spirit here oft flies
From earth, but none its secrets to us tell,
Lest some dark sorrow might here work its spell.
And, oh, I could not see dark suffering, woe
There spread, with power none to stop its flow!
I saw thee coming to us struck with fire,
Oh, how to aid thee did my heart desire!
Our tablets tell us how dread sorrow spreads
Upon that world and mars its glowing meads.
But, oh, so happy am I, here to know
That they with us here end all sorrow, woe.
O precious Izdubar! its sights would strike
Me there with sadness, and my heart would break!
And yet I learn that it is glorious, sweet!
To there enjoy its happiness,--so fleet
It speeds to sorrowing hearts to turn their tears
To joy! How sweet to them when it appears,
And sends a gleam of Heaven through their lives!
No! no! dear heart! I cannot go! It grieves
Thee! come, my dear one! quick to us return;
We here again will pair our love, and learn
How sweet it is to meet with joy again;
How happy will sweet love come to us then!"
She rests her head upon his breast, and lifts
Her face for Love's sweet kiss, and from them drifts[paragraph continues]
p. 156
A halo o'er the shining gesdin-trees
And spreads around them Heaven's holy rays.
He kisses her sweet lips, and brow, and eyes,
Then turns his gaze toward the glowing skies:
"I bless thee, for thy sweetest spirit here!
I bless this glorious land, that brings me near
To one that wafts sweet Heaven in my heart;
From thy dear plains how can my soul depart?
O Mua, Mua! how my heart now sings!
Thy love is sweeter than all earthly things!
I would I were not crowned a king!--away
From this bright land--here would I ever stay!
As thou hast said, I soon will here return;
The earth cannot withhold me from this bourne,
And soon my time allotted there will end,
And hitherward how happy I will wend!"
"And when thou goest, how my love shall there
Guard thee, and keep thy heart with Mua here.
Another kiss!"
Her form doth disappear
Within the garden, gliding through the air.
He seats himself upon a couch and rests
His head upon his hand, and thought invests
Him round. His memory returns again
To Erech's throne, and all the haunts of men.
He rises, turns his footsteps to the halls,
And thoughtful disappears within its walls.
No comments:
Post a Comment