Babylonian and Assyrian Literature Part 22

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 G.o.d who fails not with her hovering wing; Nor G.o.d, 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 pa.s.sions, hopes, to move; And men have worshipped thee in every form, In fear have praised thee, sought thy feet to charm.

We reck not if you blessings, curses bring, For men oft change thy noiseless, ghoulish wing.

And yet, thou comest, G.o.ddess 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 Shall end in peace in yonder Blest Abode, Where happiness doth crown our glorious G.o.d.

[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 blessed 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 pa.s.sed the day.

Some twenty _kaspu_ o'er the hills and plain, They a wild forest in the mountain gain, In a deep gorge they rode through thickets wild, Beneath the pines; now to a pa.s.s 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 overhead with lowering clouds is cast, Which Anu in his rage above them ma.s.sed.

Dark tempests fly above from Rimmon's breath, Who hovers o'er them with the G.o.ds 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 Before his eyes, wherever he may roam.

The King, alas! too late Heabani drags From the beast's fangs, that dies beneath the crags Overhanging near the cave. And now a din Loud comes from _dalkhi_ that around them spin In fierce delight, while h.e.l.lish 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 n.o.ble seer!

I would to G.o.ds 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, beloved friend, this thing Called death at last must come, why should we fear?

'Tis Hades' mist that opens for thy seer!

"The G.o.ds 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.

"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 G.o.ds Have not been worshipped in their high abodes.

When thou returnest, to the temple go, And pray the G.o.ds to turn from thee the blow Of Anu's fury, the strong G.o.d, 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 n.o.bly 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."

[Footnote 1: We have here quoted an Accadian hymn to the G.o.ddess of fate.

("Trans. Soc. of Bib. Arch.," vol. ii. p. 39.)]

[Footnote 2: "Bu'i-du," ghosts.]

[Footnote 3: Accadian hymn on the future of the just. ("Trans. Soc. of Bib. Arch.," vol. ii. p. 32.)]

[Footnote 4: a.s.syrian fragmentary hymn ("W.A.I.," iv. 25, col. v.), translated in "Records of the Past," vol. xi. pp. 161, 162.]

[Footnote 5: The land of Mas, Mr. Sayce supposes, was situated west of the Euphrates Valley.]

[Footnote 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 reveal A 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 winged 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 s.p.a.ce 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 ent.i.ty.

No boundary my being felt, or had; And speechless, deaf, and blind, and formless, sad, I floated through dark s.p.a.ce,--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 s.p.a.ce 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 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, G.o.ds, 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 G.o.ds, 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 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 full, complete!