s: And stand his trick with the common sailors.


s: 'I froze him stiff and I fogged him blind.


s: And kicked him home with his road to find


s: By what he could see in a three-day snow-storm


s: 'I learned him his trade o' winter nights,


s: On a five-knot tide with the forts a-firing.


s: I showed him the length of the Spaniard's foot--


s: And I reckon he clapped the boot on it later.


s: Nigh every week in the way of his business;


s: And the ten tall churches that stand between 'em.'


s: When the tight-rope's stretched and tied,


s: She thinks she smells the Northland rain!


s: She thinks she smells the Northland snow,


s: She thinks she smells the Northland rime,


s: And the dear dark nights of winter-time.


s: With close-cropped canvas slashing home!


s: _But_--there's no wind on all these seas,


s: Our gloves are stiff with the frozen blood,


s: And the long whips crack, and the men come back,


s: We tracked our seal to his secret place,


s: We made our mark, and we watched beside,


s: We raised our lance when he rose to breathe,


s: And we played him thus, and we killed him thus,


s: Our gloves are glued with the frozen blood,


s: And the wives can hear their men come back,


s: As the dawn was breaking the Sambhur belled--


s: And a doe leaped up, and a doe leaped up


s: From the pond in the wood where the wild deer sup.


s: And a wolf stole back, and a wolf stole back


s: And we sought and we found and we bayed on his track


s: As the dawn was breaking the Wolf Pack yelled


s: Eyes that can see in the dark--the dark!


s: Tongue--give tongue to it! Hark! O hark!


s: Once we feared The Beast--when he followed us we ran,


s: It was not right that The Beast should master Man;


s: The Beast only grinned at our spears round his ears--


s: But now we will hunt him for the life with the Knife--


s: _Room for his shadow on the grass--let it pass!


s: This is the Buyer of the Blade--be afraid!


s: Tyr thought hard till he hammered out a plan,


s: (And it _is_ not right) that The Beast should master Man;


s: So he went to the Children of the Night.


s: He begged a Magic Knife of their make for our sake.


s: 'The price of the Knife you would buy is an eye!'


s: _Tell it to the Barrows of the Dead--run ahead!


s: Our women and our little ones may walk on the Chalk,


s: We shall not be anxious for our sheep when we keep


s: We can eat with both our elbows on our knees, if we please,


s: For Shepherd of the Twilight is dismayed at the Blade,


s: Dog-without-a-Master goes away (Hai, Tyr, aie!),


s: As Adam lay a-dreaming beneath the Apple Tree,


s: The Angel of the Earth came down, and offered Earth in fee.


s: The Angel of the Waters offered all the Seas in fee.


s: The Angel of the Air he offered all the Air in fee.


s: The Angel of the Fire rose up and not a word said he,


s: Stand up and reach your heart's desire!'


s: As Adam was a-working outside of Eden-Wall,


s: He used the Earth, he used the Seas, he used the Air and all;


s: His prayer is all the world's--and mine.


s: _Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_.


s: popularity, a concession to Philistia, I cannot say; but the fact


s: permanent form, about one hundred and fifty of the best lyrics of


s: The names of many popular poets are entirely omitted. In no case,


s: _Charles Scribner's Sons:_ Henry Cuyler Bunner, Eugene Field,


s: Battle-field, The                        _W.C. Bryant_


s: Battle-hymn of the Republic              _I.W. Howe_


s: Death-bed, A                             _J. Aldrich_


s: Eve's Daughter                           _E.R. Sill_


s: Fool's Prayer, The                       _E.R. Sill_


s: Humble-bee, The                          _R.W. Emerson_


s: On the Life-mask of Abraham Lincoln      _R.W. Gilder_


s: Sea's Voice, The                         _W.P. Foster_


s: Skipper Ireson's Ride                    _J.G. Whittier_


s: Woman's Thought, A                       _R.W. Gilder_


s: Woods that Bring the Sunset Near, The    _R.W. Gilder_


s: Smit with those charms, that must decay,


s: They died--nor were those flowers more gay--


s: On that lone shore loud moans the sea,--


s: Thy sports, thy wanderings, when a child,


s: How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,


s: When fond recollection presents them to view!--


s: The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild-wood,


s: And every loved spot which my infancy knew!


s: The wide-spreading pond, and the mill that stood by it;


s: The bridge, and the rock where the cataract fell;


s: The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it;


s: And e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well,--


s: The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,


s: The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well.


s: That moss-covered vessel I hailed as a treasure;


s: For often at noon, when returned from the field,


s: I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure,--


s: The purest and sweetest that nature can yield.


s: How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glowing,


s: And quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell!


s: Then soon, with the emblem of truth overflowing,


s: And dripping with coolness, it rose from the well,


s: The moss-covered bucket arose from the well.


s: How sweet from the green, mossy brim to receive it,


s: As, poised on the curb, it inclined to my lips!


s: Not a full, blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it,


s: The brightest that beauty or revelry sips.


s: And now, far removed from the loved habitation,


s: The tear of regret will intrusively swell,


s: As fancy reverts to my father's plantation,


s: And sighs for the bucket that hangs in the well,--


s: The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,


s: The moss-covered bucket that hangs in the well.


s: That a maiden there lived whom you may know


s: And this maiden she lived with no other thought


s: But we loved with a love that was more than love,


s: With a love that the wingèd seraphs of heaven


s: The angels, not half so happy in heaven,


s: Yes, that was the reason (as all men know,


s: That the wind came out of the cloud by night,


s: But our love it was stronger by far than the love


s: For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams


s: And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes


s: And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side


s: Of my darling,--my darling,--my life and my bride,


s: Of her bright face one glance will trace


s: Her health! and would on earth there stood


s: Sleep not!--from her soft sleep should fly,


s: With looks whose brightness well might make


s: Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best


s: Down, down that town shall settle hence,


s: Strong are the barriers round thy dark domain,


s: Hold all that enter thy unbreathing reign.


s: Old empires sit in sullenness and gloom,


s: Youth, Manhood, Age that draws us to the ground,


s: Glide to thy dim dominions, and are bound.


s: Thou hast my earlier friends, the good, the kind,


s: The lost ones back,--yearns with desire intense,


s: Thy bolts apart, and pluck thy captives thence.


s: All passage save to those who hence depart;


s: Thou giv'st them back,--nor to the broken heart.


s: And grew with years, and faltered not in death.


s: Lurks in thy depths, unuttered, unrevered;


s: Yet shalt thou yield thy treasures up at last!


s: Has gone into thy womb from earliest time,


s: Kind words, remembered voices once so sweet,


s: And features, the great soul's apparent seat;


s: And Sorrow dwell a prisoner in thy reign.


s: Him, by whose kind paternal side I sprung,


s: Fills the next grave,--the beautiful and young.


s: And the angel Israfel, whose heart-strings are a lute, and who


s: has the sweetest voice of all God's creatures.


s: While a bolder note than this might swell


s: Peace charmed the street beneath her feet,


s: 'Twixt Want and Scorn she walked forlorn,


s: For, as love's wild prayer dissolved in air,


s: But the sin forgiven by Christ in heaven


s: Through which came flowing, flowing, flowing,


s: While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,


s: Far, through their rosy depths dost thou pursue


s: Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong,


s: Or where the rocking billows rise and sink


s: Teaches thy way along that pathless coast--


s: At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere,


s: Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,


s: Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest,


s: And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend,


s: Hath swallowed up thy form; yet, on my heart


s: Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given,


s: Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,


s: In the long way that I must tread alone,


s: Then fill to-night, with hearts as light,


s: As bubbles that swim on the beaker's brim,


s: To drink to-night, with hearts as light,


s: But since Delight can't tempt the wight,


s: We'll drink to-night, with hearts as light,


s: All wreathed with fairy fruits and flowers,


s: They wave:--from out their fragrant tops


s: They weep:--from off their delicate stems


s: O'er wandering brooks and springs unseen,


s: When woods are bare and birds are flown,


s: Some bright with thoughtless smiles, and some


s: Where secret tears have left their trace.


s: Where children, pressing cheek to cheek,


s: Youth, with pale cheek and slender frame,


s: Some, famine-struck, shall think how long


s: The cold, dark hours, how slow the light;


s: In His large love and boundless thought.


s: These struggling tides of life, that seem


s: Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,


s: Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,--


s: While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,


s: As of some one gently rapping--rapping at my chamber door.


s: "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door,--


s: Ah, distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December,


s: And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.


s: Eagerly I wished the morrow;--vainly I had sought to borrow


s: From my books surcease of sorrow--sorrow for the lost Lenore,--


s: For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore,--


s: And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain


s: Thrilled me--filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;


s: So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating


s: "'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door,


s: --Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;--


s: Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,


s: "Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;


s: But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,


s: And so faintly you came tapping--tapping at my chamber door,


s: But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,


s: And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"


s: This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore:"


s: Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,


s: Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.


s: "Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice;


s: Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;--


s: Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door--


s: Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling


s: By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,


s: "Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure


s: Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,


s: For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being


s: Ever yet was blest with seeing bird above his chamber door--


s: Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,


s: But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only


s: That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.


s: Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,


s: "Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,


s: Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore,


s: But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,


s: Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore--


s: This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing


s: To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;


s: This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining


s: On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o'er,


s: But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o'er


s: Respite--respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!


s: On this home by Horror haunted--tell me truly, I implore,--


s: Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,


s: It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore--


s: Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."


s: "Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked,


s: "Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!


s: Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!


s: And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting


s: And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,


s: Once this soft turf, this rivulet's sands,


s: How gushed the life-blood of her brave,--


s: The black-mouthed gun and staggering wain;


s: The sage may frown,--yet faint thou not!


s: Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again;


s: 'Neath which thy slumb'ring soul lies hid,


s: Strange is thy pallor; strange thy dress;


s: Strange, above all, thy length of tress,


s: Some vault that oft hath flung its black


s: Leads by the hand her little child to bed,


s: And leave his broken playthings on the floor,


s: Still gazing at them through the open door,


s: Which, though more splendid, may not please him more,--


s: Our playthings one by one, and by the hand


s: Scarce knowing if we wish to go or stay,


s: How far the unknown transcends the what we know.


s: That bowed my heart like barley bending.


s: Those Graces were that seemed grim Fates;


s: With nearer love the sky leaned o'er me;


s: What boots it patch the goblet's splinters?


s: Whose treacherous crystal is but Winter's?


s: Their nectar crowns the lips of Patience;


s: And shuns the hands would seize upon her;


s: That shall soothe this restless feeling,


s: And the night shall be filled with music,


s: Sung at the completion of the Battle Monument, April 19, 1836.


s: By the rude bridge that arched the flood,


s: And fired the shot heard round the world.


s: Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.


s: On this green bank, by this soft stream,


s: When, like our sires, our sons are gone.


s: What, cringe to Europe! Band it all in one,


s: Stilt its decrepit strength, renew its age,


s: Wipe out its debts, contract a loan to wage


s: Its venal battles,--and, by yon bright sun,


s: If slaves have power to win your heritage!


s: Look on your country, God's appointed stage,


s: Where man's vast mind its boundless course shall run:


s: For that it was your stormy coast He spread--


s: With granite hills, and made you strong and dread.


s: Let him who fears before the foemen shout,


s: Or gives an inch before a vein has bled,


s: Turn on himself, and let the traitor out!


s: When winds were hurrying o'er the flood,


s: Lear and Cordelia! 'twas an ancient tale


s: Before thy Shakespeare gave it deathless fame;


s: The times have changed, the moral is the same.


s: Thy daughter went; and in a foreign gale


s: Spread her young banner, till its sway became


s: Are close upon thee; prophets raise their wail.


s: When the rude Cossack with an outstretched hand


s: Points his long spear across the narrow sea,--


s: "Lo! there is England!" when thy destiny


s: Storms on thy straw-crowned head, and thou dost stand


s: Weak, helpless, mad, a by-word in the land,--


s: Stand, thou great bulwark of man's liberty!


s: Thou rock of shelter, rising from the wave,


s: Who planned, arose, and battled to be free,


s: Fell, undeterred, then sadly turned to thee,


s: Saved the free spirit from their country's grave,


s: When God shall ripen all things. Britons, ye


s: Who guard the sacred outpost, not in vain


s: Hold your proud peril! Freemen undefiled,


s: Keep watch and ward! Let battlements be piled


s: Around your cliffs; fleets marshalled, till the main


s: Sink under them; and if your courage wane,


s: Through force or fraud, look westward to your child!


s: And the skipper had taken his little daughtèr,


s: And her bosom white as the hawthorn buds,


s: And he watched how the veering flaw did blow


s: "Last night, the moon had a golden ring,


s: The skipper, he blew a whiff from his pipe,


s: She shuddered and paused, like a frightened steed,


s: "Come hither! come hither! my little daughter,


s: He wrapped her warm in his seaman's coat


s: "O father! I hear the church-bells ring,


s: "'Tis a fog-bell on a rock-bound coast!"--


s: "Some ship in distress, that cannot live


s: Lashed to the helm, all stiff and stark,


s: The lantern gleamed through the gleaming snow


s: Then the maiden clasped her hands and prayed


s: And she thought of Christ, who stilled the wave,


s: And fast through the midnight dark and drear,


s: The breakers were right beneath her bows,


s: She struck where the white and fleecy waves


s: But the cruel rocks, they gored her side


s: Her rattling shrouds, all sheathed in ice,


s: Like a vessel of glass, she stove and sank,


s: And he saw her hair, like the brown sea-weed,


s: Christ save us all from a death like this,


s: _And the leaves of the Judgment Book unfold!_


s: Of all the rides since the birth of time,


s: Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart


s: Shouting and singing the shrill refrain:


s: "Here's Flud Oirson, fur his horrd horrt,


s: Torr'd an' futherr'd an' corr'd in a corrt


s: With conch-shells blowing and fish-horns' twang,


s: And off he sailed through the fog and rain!


s: Looked for the coming that might not be!


s: What did the winds and the sea-birds say


s: Sharp-tongued spinsters, old wives gray,


s: Shook head, and fist, and hat, and cane,


s: And cracked with curses the hoarse refrain:


s: Of the fields so green and the sky so blue.


s: "Hear me, neighbors!" at last he cried,--


s: To the nameless horror that lives within?


s: The hand of God and the face of the dead!"


s: Said old Floyd Ireson, for his hard heart,


s: Then the wife of the skipper lost at sea


s: Said, "God has touched him! Why should we?"


s: Said an old wife, mourning her only son:


s: "Cut the rogue's tether and let him run!"


s: So with soft relentings and rude excuse,


s: Half scorn, half pity, they cut him loose,


s: And left him alone with his shame and sin.


s: Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart


s: Week in, week out, from morn till night,


s: You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,


s: It sounds to him like her mother's voice,


s: Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,


s: The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky Home;


s: The corn-top's ripe, and the meadow's in the bloom,


s: The young folks roll on the little cabin floor,


s: By-'n'-by hard times comes a-knocking at the door,--


s: We will sing one song for the old Kentucky Home,


s: They hunt no more for the possum and the coon,


s: They sing no more by the glimmer of the moon,


s: The day goes by like a shadow o'er the heart,


s: The time has come when the darkies have to part,--


s: The head must bow, and the back will have to bend,


s: A few more days, and the trouble all will end,


s: In the field where the sugar-canes grow.


s: A few more days for to tote the weary load,--


s: A few more days till we totter on the road,--


s: Rouse all thy strength and all thy skill,


s: And pour thee through the people's heart,


s: Shall bristle like thy palm with spears,


s: That grope their way through sunless caves,


s: Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:


s: I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;


s: They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;


s: I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:


s: I have read a fiery gospel, writ in burnished rows of steel:


s: "As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal;


s: Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel!


s: He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;


s: He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;


s: Oh! be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!


s: In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born, across the sea,


s: With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:


s: As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,


s: And gird thy beauteous limbs with steel,


s: Come! for thy shield is bright and strong,


s: Come! for thy dalliance does thee wrong,


s: There's a nameless grave in the battle-field,


s: From "Wanderers," copyright, 1892, by Macmillan and Co.


s: When the heated guns of the camps allied


s: Brave hearts from Severn and from Clyde,


s: With scream of shot, and burst of shell,


s: Shall wheel their circling shadows round


s: That drinks the greenness from the ground,


s: And drop their dead leaves on her mound.


s: When o'er their boughs the squirrels run,


s: And through their leaves the robins call,


s: The crickets, sliding through the grass,


s: To each they offer gifts after his will,


s: Bread, kingdoms, stars, and sky that holds them all.


s: I, in my pleachèd garden, watched the pomp,


s: Took a few herbs and apples, and the Day


s: Turned and departed silent. I, too late,


s: From "The Poems of R.H. Stoddard," copyright, 1880, by Charles


s: But I'd give all my lamps of silver bright,


s: And still the May-day flowers make sweet


s: The strange, old-fashioned, silent town,


s: And all that fills the hearts of friends,


s: Their lives thenceforth have separate ends,


s: Had something strange, I could but mark;


s: And, as their splendor flashed and failed,


s: O flames that glowed! O hearts that yearned!


s: The thoughts that burned and glowed within.


s: You can see the gap in the old wall still,


s: And the stepping-stones in the shallow brook.


s: There is the house, with the gate red-barred,


s: And the barn's brown length, and the cattle-yard,


s: And the white horns tossing above the wall.


s: There are the beehives ranged in the sun;


s: Of the brook are her poor flowers, weed-o'errun,--


s: And the same rose blows, and the same sun glows,


s: There's the same sweet clover-smell in the breeze;


s: I brushed off the burrs, and smoothed my hair,


s: And cooled at the brookside my brow and throat.


s: Down through the beeches I looked at last


s: On the little red gate and the well-sweep near.


s: I can see it all now,--the slantwise rain


s: The barn's brown gable, the vine by the door,--


s: Went, drearily singing, the chore-girl small,


s: Draping each hive with a shred of black.


s: For I knew she was telling the bees of one


s: But her dog whined low; on the doorway sill,


s: The old man sat; and the chore-girl still


s: "Stay at home, pretty bees, fly not hence!


s: Which bore her from her childhood's home,


s: From that green isle whose twilight skies


s: Now walk through rippling waves of wheat,


s: I hear--with cheeks that flush and pale--


s: And makes them fresh, and fair, and green,


s: As, at one bound, our swift spring heaps


s: The handful here, that once was Mary's earth,


s: Held, while it breathed, so beautiful a soul,


s: That, when she died, all recognized her birth,


s: "Not here! not here!" to every mourner's heart


s: The wintry wind seemed whispering round her bier;


s: And when the tomb-door opened, with a start


s: We heard it echoed from within,--"Not here!"


s: Shouldst thou, sad pilgrim, who mayst hither pass,


s: Should spring come earlier to this hallowed grass,


s: Such sweetness, grace, as only goodness can;


s: That even her dust, and this her monument,


s: Have yet a spell to stay one lonely man,


s: Lonely through life, but looking for the day


s: When what is mortal of himself shall sleep,


s: When human passion shall have passed away,


s: And the waiting heart and the loving lips,


s: On shore are the ghosts of drowning cries


s: Has sailed where the noiseless surges roll.


s: On the scroll of twice three thousand years,


s: He knows, perchance, how spirits fare,--


s: Things that shall never, never be to mortal hearers told.


s: When first the bride and bridegroom wed,


s: Some dark day, when the bells are tolled,


s: They lose themselves, and find each other;


s: From "The Poems of R.H. Stoddard," copyright 1880, by Charles


s: Behind, the toil, the camp, the march, the strife,


s: The wandering and the desert; vast, afar,


s: The sea o'erswept by clouds and winds and wings,


s: By thoughts and wishes manifold, whose breath


s: Is freshness and whose mighty pulse is peace.


s: Cut loose the bark; such voyage itself is rest;


s: A widening heaven, a current without care.


s: Time-tired souls salute thee from the shore.


s: Couldst thou tell me which road is best?


s: Cold wind blows from the Bridge of Sighs;


s: Feels music's soul through every fibre sent,


s: When we went with the winds in their blowing,


s: But the sea in the darkness calls and calls;


s: The little waves, with their soft, white hands,


s: The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls


s: Some grains of night tincture the noontide air.


s: Perform their rounds, gently protecting them.


s: There lurks a small auxiliar to the night.


s: A film of Autumn o'er the Summer spread.


s: With faint and hurried click beguile the way.


s: And through their hollow aisles it plays


s: With delicate touch the prelude of the Fall.


s: Resigned to sleep upon the old year's throng.


s: The furthest pool is strewn with leaves,


s: Where is no eye that sees, no heart that grieves.


s: The jay screams through the chestnut wood;


s: And these rough burrs my heirlooms on the ground.


s: The threadbare trees, so poor and thin,--


s: They rear their boughs to the October sky.


s: Poor knights they are which bravely wait


s: In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes,


s: Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,


s: To please the desert and the sluggish brook.


s: Made the black water with their beauty gay;


s: Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,


s: And court the flower that cheapens his array.


s: This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,


s: Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing,


s: Then Beauty is its own excuse for being:


s: Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!


s: The self-same Power that brought me there brought you.


s: With sour and spice: what was that strength


s: Which out of darkness, length by length,


s: My books I'd fain cast off, I cannot read.


s: 'Twixt every page my thoughts go stray at large


s: Down in the meadow, where is richer feed,


s: And will not mind to hit their proper targe.


s: Plutarch was good, and so was Homer too,


s: Our Shakespeare's life were rich to live again,


s: What Plutarch read, that was not good nor true,


s: Nor Shakespeare's books, unless his books were men.


s: Here while I lie beneath this walnut bough,


s: What care I for the Greeks or for Troy town,


s: Between the ants upon this hummock's crown?


s: If red or black the gods will favor most,


s: Struggling to heave some rock against the host.


s: Tell Shakespeare to attend some leisure hour,


s: For now I've business with this drop of dew,


s: And see you not, the clouds prepare a shower,--


s: I'll meet him shortly when the sky is blue.


s: This bed of herdsgrass and wild oats was spread


s: Last year with nicer skill than monarchs use;


s: And now the cordial clouds have shut all in,


s: And gently swells the wind to say all's well;


s: The scattered drops are falling fast and thin,


s: Some in the pool, some in the flower-bell.


s: But see that globe come rolling down its stem,


s: Now like a lonely planet there it floats,


s: Drip, drip the trees for all the country round,


s: And richness rare distills from every bough;


s: Shaking down crystals on the leaves below.


s: For shame the sun will never show himself,


s: Who could not with his beams e'er melt me so;


s: My dripping locks,--they would become an elf,


s: Dear common flower, that grow'st beside the way,


s: Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold,


s: Which children pluck, and, full of pride, uphold,


s: High-hearted buccaneers, o'erjoyed that they


s: May match in wealth, thou art more dear to me


s: Than all the prouder summer-blooms may be.


s: Gold such as thine ne'er drew the Spanish prow


s: Through the primeval hush of Indian seas,


s: Of age, to rob the lover's heart of ease;


s: 'Tis the Spring's largess, which she scatters now


s: To rich and poor alike, with lavish hand,


s: Are in the heart, and heed not space or time:


s: Not in mid June the golden-cuirassed bee


s: Feels a more summer-like warm ravishment


s: His fragrant Sybaris, than I, when first


s: From the dark green thy yellow circles burst.


s: Then think I of deep shadows on the grass,


s: Of meadows where in sun the cattle graze,


s: The gleaming rushes lean a thousand ways,


s: Of leaves that slumber in a cloudy mass,


s: Where one white cloud like a stray lamb doth move.


s: My childhood's earliest thoughts are linked with thee;


s: The sight of thee calls back the robin's song,


s: Beside the door, sang clearly all day long,


s: With news from heaven, which he could bring


s: When birds and flowers and I were happy peers.


s: When thou, for all thy gold, so common art!


s: Since each reflects in joy its scanty gleam


s: Of heaven, and could some wondrous secret show,


s: And with a child's undoubting wisdom look


s: On all these living pages of God's book.


s: This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign,


s: On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings


s: In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings,


s: Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair.


s: Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl;


s: Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell,


s: As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell,


s: Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed!


s: He left the past year's dwelling for the new,


s: Stole with soft step its shining archway through,


s: Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more.


s: Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee,


s: From thy dead lips a clearer note is born


s: Than ever Triton blew from wreathèd horn!


s: Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings:


s: Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,


s: Let each new temple, nobler than the last,


s: Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,


s: Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!


s: And heavy dews. The morn's bright scornful eye


s: Thou smilest at the window where I wait,


s: Who bade thee ride for life. In empty state


s: My days go on, while false hours prophesy


s: Thy quick return; at last, in sad despair,


s: I cease to bid thee, leave thee free as air;


s: When lo, thou stand'st before me glad and fleet,


s: And lay'st undreamed-of treasures at my feet.


s: I am too poor. Thou art the king, not I.


s: Through the king's gate, unquestioned then,


s: A beggar went, and laughed, "This brings


s: "Poor man, what wouldst thou have of me?"


s: Through all the gates, unquestioned then,


s: The king came not. They called him dead;


s: Which, through the wavering days of sin,


s: When wandering once, forlorn, he strayed,


s: Peace dwells not here,--this rugged face


s: The thought of that strange tale divine,


s: Cursed the dark hour that gave him birth;


s: Looks over Wall Street's mingled nations;


s: To throng for trade and last quotations;


s: Even there I heard a strange, wild strain


s: The curbstone war, the auction's hammer;


s: It led, from all this strife for millions,


s: The reeds give out that strain impassioned.


s: From haunts of shepherd, nymph, and satyr,


s: His gnarlèd horns were somewhere sprouting;


s: Were crossed, as on some frieze you see them,


s: Concealed his crooked shanks beneath them.


s: He filled the quivering reeds with sound,


s: And o'er his mouth their changes shifted,


s: The nymphs and herdsmen ran to hear him,


s: Even now the tradesmen from their tills,


s: With clerks and porters, crowded near him.


s: From some new-fangled lunch-house handy,


s: With throbs her vernal passion taught her,--


s: New forms may fold the speech, new lands


s: "Great Pan is dead!"--and all the people


s: From "The Poems of R.H. Stoddard," copyright, 1880, by Charles


s: When she took it from my trembling fingers


s: Withered, faded, pressed between the pages,


s: This is Palm Sunday: mindful of the day,


s: I bring palm branches, found upon my way:


s: But these will wither; thine shall never die,--


s: The sacred palms thou bearest to the sky!


s: Dear little saint, though but a child in years,


s: _We_ doubt and tremble,--_we_, with bated breath,


s: Thou, strong in faith, art gifted to conceive


s: Beyond thy years, and teach us to believe!


s: Then take my palms, triumphal, to thy home,


s: Gentle white palmer, never more to roam!


s: Only, sweet sister, give me, ere thou go'st,


s: Thy benediction,--for my love thou know'st!


s: We, too, are pilgrims, travelling towards the shrine:


s: Pray that our pilgrimage may end like thine!


s: Brave Adm'ral speak,--what shall I say?"


s: They sailed, and sailed, as winds might blow,


s: Now speak, brave Adm'ral; speak, and say--"


s: They sailed! They sailed! Then spake the mate:


s: There we no longer shall divide our time


s: By acts or pleasures,--doing petty things


s: Of work or warfare, merchandise or rhyme;


s: But we shall sit beside the silver springs


s: That flow from God's own footstool, and behold


s: Sages and martyrs, and those blessed few


s: Who loved us once and were beloved of old,


s: To dwell with them and walk with them anew,


s: Through the bright, busy, and eternal day.


s: And wait! cried the night and wind and storm,--


s: These hard, well-meaning hands we thrust


s: "The ill-timed truth we might have kept--


s: Who knows how sharp it pierced and stung?


s: The chastening stripes must cleanse them all;


s: Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool


s: This bronze doth keep the very form and mold


s: Of our great martyr's face. Yes, this is he:


s: That human, humorous mouth; those cheeks that hold


s: Like some harsh landscape all the summer's gold;


s: Those silent, patient lips too well foretold.


s: Yes, this is he who ruled a world of men


s: As might some prophet of the elder day,--


s: With deep-eyed thought and more than mortal ken.


s: Or armèd strength: his pure and mighty heart.


s: Years have flown since I knew thee first,


s: And I know thee as water is known of thirst:


s: Yet I knew thee of old at the first sweet sight,


s: And thou art strange to me, Love, to-night.


s: Not a kiss in life; but one kiss, at life's end,


s: I have set on the face of Death in trust for thee.


s: Through long years keep it fresh on thy lips, O friend!


s: At the gate of Silence give it back to me.


s: Three roses, wan as moonlight, and weighed down


s: Each with its loveliness as with a crown,


s: Drooped in a florist's window in a town.


s: The first a lover bought. It lay at rest,


s: Like flower on flower, that night, on Beauty's breast.


s: Shrunk in the tangles of a harlot's hair.


s: The third, a widow, with new grief made wild,


s: The dawn came in through the bars of the blind,--


s: A ghost of a dawn, and pale, and weak,--


s: As a gray rose-leaf that is fading white


s: I kissed her lips, they were half apart,


s: And I said, "Though never in life you spoke


s: For the space of a heart-beat fluttered her breath,


s: Look off, dear Love, across the sallow sands,


s: And mark yon meeting of the sun and sea,


s: How long they kiss in sight of all the lands.


s: Now in the sea's red vintage melts the sun,


s: And Cleopatra night drinks all. 'Tis done,


s: Come forth, sweet stars, and comfort heaven's heart;


s: Glimmer, ye waves, round else unlighted sands.


s: From "Poems of Sidney Lanier," copyright, 1884, 1891, by Mary D.


s: Dark grow the pine-woods, dark and drear,--


s: Save where the midnight city's pallid glow


s: Across the swirling Kills and gusty bay,


s: For there, between the river and the sea,


s: Beneath that glow,--the lily's heart to me,--


s: Supreme o'er death, since deathless is thy essence;


s: Thou hast but blest me with a nearer presence.


s: I breathe no selfish plaint, no faithless chiding;


s: But thou hast gained a summer all-abiding.


s: Like some poor harper at a palace portal,


s: While those I love glide in and dwell immortal.


s: Admits no fruit of all our long endeavor,


s: What can we bear beyond the unknown portal?


s: Of all our toiling: in the life immortal


s: No word came with our coming, to remind us


s: Into the silent, starless Night before us,


s: No hand has mapped the constellations o'er us,


s: Yet fearless toward that midnight, black and hollow,


s: The beckoning of a Father's hand we follow--


s: And when he comes to me, I must sit quiet:


s: The angel raised his hand and looked and said,


s: Shall we make wing to?" The still solitude


s: Became a harp whereon his voice and mood


s: Made spheral music round his haloed head.


s: I spake--for then I had not long been dead--


s: "Let me look round upon the vasts, and brood


s: What is yon lower star that beauteous shines


s: Our wings?--_There_ would I go and there abide."


s: He smiled as one who some child's thought divines:


s: "That is the world where yesternight you died."


s: The little toy dog is covered with dust,


s: And the little toy soldier is red with rust,


s: Time was when the little toy dog was new


s: And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue


s: "Now, don't you go till I come," he said,


s: Oh, the years are many, the years are long,


s: Ay, faithful to Little Boy Blue they stand,


s: And they wonder, as waiting these long years through,


s: Since he kissed them and put them there.


s: As with all things she brushed was blent);


s: Crown thyself, Death; let fall thy tread


s: And through my chilling veins shall flame


s: Air with no breath of earth to stain it,


s: Plashings--or is it the pinewood's whispers,


s: Laughter of winds when they find the blossoms,


s: Sea-depths, blue as the blue of violets--


s: Broken in air, like a passionate promise


s: Clouds that are cool, for all their color,


s: What would the great world lose, I wonder--


s: Blow, salt wind from the north upstarting,


s: A blight, a gloom, I know not what, has crept upon my gladness--


s: Some vague, remote ancestral touch of sorrow, or of madness;


s: A fear that is not fear, a pain that has not pain's insistence;


s: A tense of longing, or of loss, in some foregone existence;


s: A subtle hurt that never pen has writ nor tongue has spoken--


s: _Across the frost, across the flowers--_


s: _Through summer seconds and winter hours._


s: _'Tis strange you cannot sing_ (quoth he),


s: _What, know you not, old man_ (quoth he)--


s: _Your hair is white, your face is wise--_


s: _That Love must kiss that Mortal's eyes_


s: And fame and name, and great men's praise;


s: _With Love he fills the Spring-time air;_


s: _My song goes straight to one who stands--_


s: _Her face all gladdening at the sound--_


s: _My maid is dead long years_ (quoth he),


s: The cool breeze waved the window-lace, at play,


s: The white rose on the porch was all in bloom,


s: I watched the wheeling sea-birds go and come.


s: "Such an old friend,--she would not make me stay


s: While she bound up her hair." I turned, and lo,


s: As round some nymph a sunlit fountain's flow.


s: "She would not make me wait!"--but well I know


s: She took a good half-hour to loose and lay


s: Those locks in dazzling disarrangement so!


s: Not made for love's despairs and blisses:


s: Was Wisdom's mouth so shaped for kisses?


s: And set this vine-work round it running,


s: For some brown girl that scorned his passion.


s: His work outlives him--there's his glory!


s: When the horn is on the hill? (_Bugle_: Tarantara!)


s: With the crisp air stinging, and the huntsmen singing,


s: We shall slay the buck of ten; (_Bugle_: Tarantara!)


s: And the priest shall say benison, and we shall ha'e venison,


s: Keep close and house him fair; (_Bugle_: Tarantara!)


s: He'll still be a stranger to the merry thrill of danger


s: Let him come out to-day! (_Bugle_: Tarantara!)


s: For the horses are neighing, and the hounds are baying,


s: As the place where the clustered palm-trees are,


s: Sweetened with syrop, tinctured with spice,


s: Creams, and cordials, and sugared dates,


s: And wines that are known to Eastern princes;


s: And all that the curious palate could wish,


s: And stains with the henna-plant the tips


s: Of her pointed nails, and bites her lips


s: Till they bloom again; but, alas, _that_ rose


s: Runs in their veins, shines in their eyes.


s: 'Twas His belovèd child, His own first-born;


s: Shook the sheer steeps of black Oblivion.


s: Then all the works of darkness being done


s: Through countless æons hopelessly forlorn,


s: God at the last, reluctant, made the sun.


s: He loved His darkness still, for it was old:


s: He grieved to see His eldest child take flight;


s: And when His _Fiat lux_ the death-knell tolled,


s: As the doomed Darkness backward by Him rolled,


s: And strewed it with the stars, and called it Night.


s: Vast hollow voids, beyond the utmost reach


s: Of suns, their legions withering at His nod,


s: And seas new made, immense and furious, each


s: Plunged and rolled forward, feeling for a beach;


s: He walked the waters with effulgence shod.


s: This being made, He yearned for worlds to make


s: For to create is still God's prime delight.


s: The large moon, all alone, sailed her dark lake,


s: And the first tides were moving to her might;


s: Then Darkness trembled, and began to quake


s: Big with the birth of stars, and when He spake


s: A million worlds leapt into radiant light!


s: Wind of the winnowed skies and sharp, clear stars--


s: Blow cold and keen across the naked hills,


s: And crisp the lowland pools with crystal films,


s: And blur the casement-squares with glittering ice,


s: Wind of the gold and crimson sunset lands--


s: Blow fresh and pure across the peaks and plains,


s: And broaden the blue spaces of the heavens,


s: And sway the grasses and the mountain pines,


s: Wind of the clinging mists and gray, harsh rains--


s: Blow moist and chill across the wastes of brine,


s: And shut the sun out, and the moon and stars,


s: And lash the boughs against the dripping eaves,


s: Wind from the bowers of jasmine and of rose--


s: And flowering forests come with dewy wings,


s: And stir the petals at her feet, and kiss


s: Let me come in where you sit weeping,--aye,


s: Weep with you for the little one whose love


s: The little arms that slowly, slowly loosed


s: Their pressure round your neck; the hands you used


s: To kiss.--Such arms--such hands I never knew.


s: Fain would I be of service--say some thing,


s: Between the tears, that would be comforting,--


s: We passed the school where children played,


s: These are the days when birds come back,


s: Lest waking it should bleat and pine for me!


s: All that thou art not, makes not up the sum


s: The ferns and the fondling grass said _Stay_,


s: And the little reeds sighed _Abide, abide_


s: The chestnut, the oak, the walnut, the pine,


s: Overleaning, with flickering meaning and sign,


s: Said, _Pass not, so cold, these manifold_


s: _Deep shades of the hills of Habersham_,


s: The white quartz shone, and the smooth brook-stone


s: Did bar me of passage with friendly brawl,


s: Made lures with the lights of streaming stone


s: In the clefts of the hills of Habersham,


s: Avail: I am fain for to water the plain.


s: Downward to toil and be mixed with the main.


s: The dry fields burn, and the mills are to turn,


s: And the lordly main from beyond the plain


s: From "Poems of Sidney Lanier," copyright, 1884, 1891, by Mary D.


s: Around the rocky headlands, far and near,


s: The wakened ocean murmured with dull tongue


s: Till all the coast's mysterious caverns rung


s: With the waves' voice, barbaric, hoarse, and drear.


s: Within this distant valley, with rapt ear,


s: I listened, thrilled, as though a spirit sung,


s: Or some gray god, as when the world was young,


s: Moaned to his fellow, mad with rage or fear.


s: Thus in the dark, ere the first dawn, methought


s: The sea's deep roar and sullen surge and shock


s: And echoed from the summits where God wrought,


s: Building the world, and ploughing the steep rock


s: With ploughs of ice-hills harnessed to the sea.


s: The nations hear it, like the voice of fate;


s: Within vast shores its strife makes desolate,


s: Still murmuring mid storms that to its breast


s: Return, as eagles screaming to their nest.


s: Is it the voice of worlds and isles that wait


s: While old earth crumbles to eternal rest,


s: Or some hoar monster calling to his mate?


s: O ye, that hear it moan about the shore,


s: Be still and listen! that loud voice hath sung


s: Where mountains rise, where desert sands are blown;


s: 'Twill murmur on its craggy shores among,


s: England, I stand on thy imperial ground,


s: I feel within my blood old battles flow,--


s: The blood whose ancient founts in thee are found.


s: Still surging dark against the Christian bound


s: Wide Islam presses; well its peoples know


s: Thy heights that watch them wandering below;


s: I think how Lucknow heard their gathering sound.


s: I turn and meet the cruel turbaned face;


s: England, 'tis sweet to be so much thy son!


s: I feel the conqueror in my blood and race;


s: Last night Trafalgar awed me, and to-day


s: Gibraltar wakened; hark, thy evening gun


s: Thou art the rock of empire, set mid-seas


s: Between the East and West, that God has built;


s: Advance thy Roman borders where thou wilt,


s: While run thy armies true with His decrees.


s: Law, justice, liberty,--great gifts are these;


s: Watch that they spread where English blood is spilt,


s: Lest, mixt and sullied with his country's guilt,


s: The soldier's life-stream flow and Heaven displease.


s: Two swords there are: one naked, apt to smite,


s: Thy blade of war; and, battled-storied, one


s: Rejoices in the sheath and hides from light


s: Now westward look, my country bids Good-night,--


s: Peace to the world from ports without a gun!


s: But some he'll save for a bleaching grave,


s: Oh, the ships of Greece and the ships of Tyre


s: And the ships of France they led him a dance,


s: For sure and swift, with a guiding lift,


s: But though he delves so fierce and grim,


s: Oh, he works with a rollicking stave at lip,


s: With the burly note of his rumbling throat


s: He learned it once in his father's house


s: Oh, fair, they say, was his bride to see,


s: That she could bide at his gruesome side


s: And sweet, they say, is her kiss to those


s: And softer than sleep her hand's first sweep


s: From the royal barque to the slaver dark,


s: And to think I ust to _scold_ him fer his everlastin' noise,


s: When I on'y rickollect him as the best o' little boys!


s: I wisht a hunderd times a day 'at he'd come trompin' in,


s: And all the noise he ever made was twic't as loud ag'in!--


s: It 'u'd seem like some soft music played on some fine insturment,


s: Of course the clock don't tick no louder than it ust to do--


s: Yit now they's times it 'pears like it 'u'd bu'st itse'f in two!


s: And let a rooster, suddent-like, crow som'er's clos't around,


s: And seems's ef, mighty nigh it, it 'u'd lift me off the ground!


s: And same with all the cattle when they bawl around the bars,


s: In the red o' airly mornin', er the dusk and dew and stars,


s: When the neighbers' boys 'at passes never stop, but jes' go on,


s: A-whistlin' kind o' to theirse'v's--sence little Wesley's gone!


s: And then, o' nights, when Mother's settin' up oncommon late,


s: A-bilin' pears er somepin', and I set and smoke and wait,


s: Tel the moon out through the winder don't look bigger'n a dime,


s: To wind the clock, as I hev done fer mor'n fifty year,--


s: A-wishin' 'at the time bed come fer us to go to bed,


s: Be thou a bird, my soul, and mount and soar


s: Be thou a bird, and mount, and soar, and sing,


s: Be thou a bird, and trust, the autumn come,


s: This I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:--


s: There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;


s: And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged


s: A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords


s: Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince's banner


s: Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.


s: And thought, "Had I a sword of keener steel--


s: That blue blade that the king's son bears,--but this


s: Blunt thing!"--he snapt and flung it from his hand,


s: And lowering crept away and left the field.


s: Then came the king's son, wounded, sore bestead,


s: And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,


s: Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,


s: And ran and snatched it, and with battle-shout


s: And saved a great cause that heroic day.


s: "Where are you going, and what do you wish?"


s: "We have come to fish for the herring-fish


s: And the wind that sped them all night long


s: So cried the stars to the fishermen three,


s: Then down from the sky came the wooden shoe,


s: And some folk thought 'twas a dream they'd dreamed


s: But I shall name you the fishermen three:


s: And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies


s: Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three,--


s: There's magic in that small bird's note--


s: The leaves dance round her with delight,


s: The stream laughs out beneath her feet--


s: From "The Builders and Other Poems," copyright, 1897, by Charles


s: Then shouldst thou walk, where'er thou art,


s: The music fills their throbbing throats,


s: With all the pain that haunts the strain


s: To you must seem like a boy's sad dream,


s: From "The Builders, and Other Poems," copyright, 1897, Charles


s: As sweet as flowers, as strong as vines,


s: Let not my strength be spilled for naught,


s: Whence perfect wild-flowers leap and shine!


s: The moonbeams over Arno's vale in silver flood were pouring,


s: When first I heard the nightingale a long-lost love deploring.


s: So passionate, so full of pain, it sounded strange and eerie,


s: I longed to hear a simpler strain,--the wood notes of the veery.


s: The laverock sings a bonny lay above the Scottish heather;


s: It sprinkles down from far away like light and love together;


s: He drops the golden notes to greet his brooding mate, his dearie;


s: In English gardens, green and bright and full of fruity treasure,


s: The ballad was a pleasant one, the tune was loud and cheery,


s: And yet, with every setting sun, I listened for the veery.


s: But far away, and far away, the tawny thrush is singing;


s: I fain would hear, before I go, the wood notes of the veery.


s: I watched her earth-brown eyes grow glad


s: Her great brown eyes were veiled and sad


s: Sole Lord of Lords and very King of Kings,


s: He sits within the desert, carved in stone;


s: Graved on his front the sacred beetle clings;


s: Disdain sits on his lips; and in a frown


s: Scorn lives upon his forehead for a crown.


s: The affrighted ostrich dare not dust her wings


s: Dazed camels stop, and mute the Bedouins stare.


s: This symbol of past power more than man's


s: Presages doom. Kings look--and Kings despair:


s: And dark thrones totter in the baleful air!


s: "There is Willis, all natty, and jaunty, and gay,


s: Who says his best things in so foppish a way,


s: With conceits and pet phrases so thickly o'erlaying 'em,


s: That one hardly knows whether to thank him for saying 'em;


s: Over-ornament ruins both poem and prose,--


s: Just conceive of a Muse with a ring in her nose!"


s: _The White Jessamine._--One of the most charming of Father Tabb's


s: phrase,--she had (and of how many Americans can this be said?) an


s: Transcribers Note: Typographic errors in the original have been


s: The purpose of the translator in offering to the public this


s: But even granting the value of the _Genesis_ as a fit subject for


s: convention, or owing to the staccato and ejaculatory character of


s: Why take the style of those heroic times?


s: For nature brings not back the mastodon,


s: Ours is a great duty--to praise in word and love at


s: heart the heavens' Ruler, the glorious King of Hosts:


s: He is the substance of all power, the head of all high


s: things, the Lord Almighty. Origin or beginning was


s: never made for Him, nor shall an end ever come to the


s: eternal God: but, on the contrary, He is for ever supreme


s: by His high puissance over the heavenly kingdoms;


s: just and mighty, He rules the mansions of the sky,


s: which were established far and wide through the power


s: of God for the sons of glory, the keepers of souls.


s: These angelic hosts were wont to feel joy and rapture,


s: transcendent bliss, in the presence of their Creator:


s: their beatitude was measureless. Glorious ministers


s: magnified their Lord, spoke his praise with zeal, lauded


s: the Master of their being, and were excellently happy


s: in the majesty of God. They had no knowledge of


s: working evil or wickedness, but dwelt in innocence


s: forever with their Lord: from the beginning they wrought


s: in heaven nothing but righteousness and truth, until


s: a Prince of angels through pride strayed into sin: then


s: they would consult their own advantage no longer, but


s: turned away from God's lovingkindness. They had


s: vast arrogance, in that by the might of multitudes they


s: sought to wrest from the Lord the celestial mansions,


s: spacious and heaven-bright. Then there fell upon


s: them, grievously, the envy, presumption, and pride


s: of the Angel who first began to carry out the evil plot,


s: to weave it and promote it, when he boasted by word--


s: as he thirsted for conflict--that he wished to own the


s: home and high throne of the heavenly kingdom to the


s: north. Thereupon God became angered and hostile


s: towards the beings whom he had formerly exalted in


s: beauty and glory: he created for the traitors a marvelous


s: abode as penalty for their action, namely the pangs of


s: Hell, bitter afflictions; Our Lord called forth that


s: abysmal joyless house of punishment to wait for the


s: outcast keepers of souls. When he knew that it was


s: ready, he enveloped it in eternal night and equipped it


s: with torment, filling it with fire and fearful cold, with


s: fume and red flame: then he commanded the terrors


s: of suffering to increase throughout that hapless place.


s: They had committed a dire sin against God: on that


s: account dire punishment befell them. They asserted,


s: in fierce mood, that they wished to seize the kingdom


s: and could easily do so: but this presumption mocked


s: them when their Lord, the high King of heaven, lifted


s: up his almighty hand against the throng. The mad


s: rebels, accursed ones, could not make head against God,


s: but the Highest troubled their spirits and humbled their


s: pride, for he was incensed; he stripped the sinners of


s: victory and might, of dominion and honor, and further


s: took from his foes happiness, peace, and all joys, as well


s: as bright glory, and finally, with his own exceeding power,


s: wreaked his wrath on his adversaries in mighty ruin.


s: He was stern in mood, grimly embittered, and seized


s: upon his foes with resistless grasp and broke them in


s: his grip, enraged at heart, and deprived his opponents of


s: their native seat, their bright abodes on high. For


s: our Creator dismissed and banished from heaven the


s: overweening band of angels: the Lord sent away on a


s: long journey the faithless multitude, the hateful host,


s: the miserable spirits; their pride was broken, their threat


s: overthrown, their glory shattered, and their beauty


s: dimmed; thenceforth they abode in desolation, because


s: of their dark exile. They did not dare to laugh aloud,


s: but lived wearied by the torments of hell and became


s: familiar with woes, bitterness, and sorrow; covered with


s: darkness, they bore their pain,--a heavy sentence,


s: because they had begun to battle against God.


s: Then, as formerly, true peace existed in heaven, fair


s: amity: for the Lord was dear to all, the Sovereign to his


s: servants; and the majesty of the joyful angelic hosts


s: increased, through the favor of the Almighty.


s: So those who inhabited the sky, home of glory, were


s: at peace; hatred was gone, as well as sorrow and strife


s: among angels, ever since the rebellious hosts, bereft of the


s: light, had relinquished heaven. Behind them stood in


s: grandeur their seats rich in glorious workmanship, teeming


s: with blessings in God's kingdom, bright and perennially


s: bountiful,--but all devoid of occupants, ever since the


s: miserable spirits had gone to their place of punishment,


s: their vile prison. Then our Lord bethought him, in


s: meditative mood, how he might people again, and with


s: a better race, his high creation, the noble seats and glory-


s: crowned abodes which the haughty rebels had left


s: vacant, high in heaven. Therefore Holy God willed by


s: his plenteous power that under the circle of the firma-


s: ment the earth should be established, with sky above and


s: wide water, a world-creation in place of the foes whom


s: As yet there was nothing at all created here, except


s: shadows, but this broad earth stood deep and dim, idle


s: and useless, alien even to God himself; on it the King


s: whose purpose never falters turned his eyes and beheld


s: the place void of joy; he saw dark clouds, black under


s: the firmament, throng in the eternal night, dun and


s: waste, until this world-creation came to pass through


s: the word of the King of Glory. First the everlasting


s: Lord, protector of all things, created heaven and earth;


s: as the almighty King put forth the firmament and with


s: victorious might established this ample world. The


s: earth was as yet unadorned by vegetation: the ocean


s: covered it far and wide, turbid waves in the eternal


s: night. Then was the glorious Spirit of heaven's guardian


s: borne over the sea with sovereign virtue. For the King


s: of the angels commanded Light, dispenser of life, to


s: come forth over the broad expanse: quickly was the


s: Arch-King's mandate fulfilled, and Holy Light appeared


s: over the waste spaces, as the Creator had ordained it.


s: The Wielder of Victory next sundered light from darkness,


s: shadow from radiance, over the surge of the sea. Then


s: he formed the two names of the dispensers of life: light


s: was first called "Day" by the word of the Lord, a


s: beauteous creation. This period of creation greatly


s: pleased God, in the beginning: the first day saw the


s: dark shadows duskily flee away over the wide earth.


s: Time now went forth over the frame-work of the


s: world: after this shining splendor, the Lord our Creator


s: fashioned the first evening, but on its track rushed a


s: thronging welter of darkness which the Lord himself


s: called by the name of "Night." Our Saviour sundered


s: these two: ever since then they have ceaselessly wrought


s: and fulfilled the will of the Lord over the earth.


s: Then the second day advanced, light after darkness;


s: and the Ruler of Life straightway commanded a glad


s: sky-substance to appear in the midst of the flood: our


s: Master parted the waves and wrought there the found-


s: ations of the firmament: this the Mighty One, omnipotent


s: King, reared aloft from the earth through his own word.


s: The flood was divided under the high heavens by holy


s: power, the waters from the waters, and still they remain


s: so under the firmament which roofs all nations.


s: Then swiftly came advancing over the world the third


s: great morn. Nor were the spreading lands and ways


s: yet deemed needful by our Lord, but the earth stood


s: girt fast by water. Through his word, the Ruler of


s: the angels bade the waters be gathered together, which


s: now hold their course beneath the skies in an appointed


s: place. Then speedily the broad ocean stood all together


s: under heaven, as the Holy One commanded, for the


s: flood was sundered from the dry land. Thereupon


s: Life's Ruler looked upon the dry land, the Preserver of


s: mankind [found it] widely visible, and the King of


s: Glory called it "Earth." He established a proper


s: channel for the waves, the broad flood, and fettered....


s: The Ruler of Heaven did not think it fitting that


s: Adam, the keeper of Paradise and shepherd of the new


s: creation, should be alone any longer: so the supreme


s: King, Ruler Almighty, made a companion for him--


s: created Woman, and gave this helpmate to his cherished


s: Man as the first and fruitful light of his life. He took his


s: material from Adam's body and skilfully removed a


s: rib from his side: the latter was deep in repose and


s: slumbered peacefully; he felt no pain, though a little


s: uneasiness, nor did a drop of blood come from the wound,


s: but the Prince of the Angels took from his body a living


s: bone while the man was unwounded. From this God


s: fashioned a noble woman, and put into her the breath


s: of life and an immortal soul: these two were like the


s: angels. Thus was Adam's bride endowed with a


s: living spirit. They were both radiantly beautiful in their


s: youthfulness, in the world prepared by the might of


s: the Lord: they did not know how to undertake or


s: work evil, but on the contrary there was in the breast


s: of each a burning love of God. Then the benign King,


s: Ruler of everyone born of the race of man, blessed these


s: first two creatures, father and mother, woman and


s: "Be fruitful now and increase; fill the verdant earth


s: with progeny, your race, both sons and daughters. Under


s: your sway shall be the salt water and all the created


s: world. Enjoy prosperous days, [ruling over] both


s: the fishes of the deep and the fowls of the air. Into


s: your power are given the sacred herd and the wild beasts


s: and every living thing that walks the earth; all breath-


s: ing creatures, whatsoever the sea brings forth over the


s: whale-paths, all things belong to you two."


s: Then our Maker beheld the beauty of his works and


s: the fullness of his abundance, his new creations. Pa-


s: radise stood, good and holy, filled with blessings, ever-


s: lasting bounty. That kindly soil was beauteously


s: watered by the rushing seas and springing fountains;


s: for never yet had clouds dark with wind brought down


s: rains over the broad earth: but none the less the ground


s: stood crowned with its harvest. From this new Garden


s: four noble river-streams have their outflow: these were


s: all partitioned out of one fair-shining water by the might


s: of the Lord, when he created the earth, and [were thus]


s: sent out into the world. Men dwelling on the earth,


s: the peoples of the nations, call one of these Fison, which


s: broadly girdles with its bright streams a quarter of the


s: earth beyond Hebeleac: in that ancestral soil the sons


s: of men, nations near and far, find the best gold and


s: precious stones, as the books tell us. Then the second


s: ment of Ethiopia, an ample kingdom. The third is


s: Tigris, a foaming stream which encircles the people of


s: Assyria. Such likewise is the fourth, which men among


s: many a nation now widely call Eufrates....


s: Then the Almighty King, the great Lord, came forth


s: into the garden about mid-day, by his divine will; for


s: our Saviour and merciful Father wished to find out


s: what his children were doing: he knew that they were


s: sinful to whom he had given perfection. Bereft of


s: their beatitude and stricken in spirit, they avoided his


s: presence by retreating among the shadows of the trees;


s: they hid themselves in dark recesses, when they heard


s: the holy word of the Lord and feared him. Straight-


s: way the King of Heaven began to call for the keeper


s: of the [newly] created world; the mighty Lord bade


s: his son come to him forthwith. He answered him then,


s: the wretched one himself, destitute of clothing, [and]


s: "Lord of my life, I am hiding myself here because


s: unclothed; basely sinful, I am covering my shame with


s: leaves: my pain is cruel, most bitter in my heart. I dare


s: not now go forth before thy presence: I am all naked!"


s: "Tell me this, my son: why do you seek the shadows,


s: in shame? You certainly received no disgrace at my


s: hands, but on the contrary delight in all things! How


s: come you to know evil and hide shame and behold sor-


s: row and cover your body with leaves and, saddened and


s: crushed by the woes of life, say that you need clothing,


s: unless you have tasted of an apple from the tree which


s: "The woman, my Lord, the fair woman gave into


s: my hand this fruit, which I accepted in sin against thee.


s: Now I bear this manifest sign in myself: I know so much


s: "Why did you forfeit these plenteous delights, daughter,


s: the new creations of paradise, abundant blessings, when


s: in your cupidity you seized on the trunk and took the


s: fruit from the branch of the tree and ate the accursed


s: thing in defiance of me, and gave of the apple to Adam,


s: when you both by my prohibition were so strictly for-


s: Then the fair maiden, the woman overcome by shame,


s: "The serpent tempted me and urgently prompted me


s: to sin; through fair words the worm goaded me into


s: accursed frowardness, until I basely performed the


s: deadly act, committed the crime, and robbed the tree in


s: the grove, as it was not lawful to do, and ate the fruit."


s: Then our Saviour, the Lord Almighty, ordained wide


s: wanderings for the serpent, the venomous worm, and


s: "To far distant times shalt thou, an outcast, crawl


s: over the broad earth on thy breast, thy belly; without


s: feet shalt thou move about, so long as life and breath


s: remain in thee. Dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy


s: life, since thou hast accomplished so evil a deed here.


s: Thee the woman shall war against, and hate thee


s: upon thine accursed head with her feet; thou shalt lie


s: in wait at her heels, in ever-new conflict: for there


s: shall be war between thy offspring and her offspring


s: always, as long as the earth exists under the cloudy


s: skies. Now dost thou understand and know, baleful


s: destroyer of mankind, how thou shalt live!"


s: "Depart now from bliss! Thou shalt be ever under


s: the sway of men; with fear of men cruelly oppressed,


s: thou shalt sorrowfully endure the heinousness of thine


s: offence and wait for death, and with weeping and wailing


s: and great anguish bring into the world thy sons and


s: "Thou shalt seek another country, a joyless dwelling-


s: place, and wander in exile, naked and needy, driven


s: away from the blessings of paradise; the separation of


s: soul and body is now ordained for thee. Lo, thou hast


s: wickedly originated sin: therefore thou shalt toil, and


s: win thy sustenance on earth by thyself, acquire it by


s: the sweat of thy face, and thus eat thy bread so long


s: as thou livest here,--until ungentle disease, which thou


s: didst recently take to thyself with the apple, strikes


s: thee cruelly to the heart: then shalt thou die."


s: Behold, we learn thus how bitter afflictions and uni-


s: Thereupon the Guardian of Glory, our Creator, girded


s: them with clothing; the Lord bade them cover their


s: nakedness with some simple garments, and bade them


s: set forth and depart from paradise into a harder life.


s: Behind them, by God's command, a holy angel with a


s: fiery sword shut the gate of their blissful home of peace


s: and joy; nor may any guileful sin-stained man ever fare


s: thither again, for the warder has might and strength


s: who keeps for the Lord that greater life rich in glories.


s: Yet the Almighty, our First Father, would not take


s: away all comforts from Adam and Eve, though they had


s: fallen away from him: but he still let the lofty roof


s: studded with holy stars stand as a solace for them, and


s: gave them ample possessions, and bade the seas and


s: land bring forth for the pair multitudes of each of the


s: young-producing species [necessary] for the sustenance


s: of this life. So, after their sin, they inhabited a more


s: sorrowful land, a dwelling and country less fertile in


s: every kind of blessing than their former abode had


s: been, from which they had been driven out after their


s: Then they began, by God's command, to produce


s: children, as the Lord had charged them. To begin


s: with, by Adam and Eve were brought into the world


s: two fair first-born sons, Cain and Abel. The books


s: tell us how these first toilers, loving brothers, gained


s: their subsistence, riches and food: the one who was


s: elder born tilled the earth with his strength; the second


s: kept the flocks, helping his father, until a great number


s: of days passed. They both brought an offering to the


s: Lord: the Prince of the Angels, King of all things, looked


s: upon Abel's offering with [favorable] eyes, but would


s: not consider the sacrifice of Cain; that caused strong


s: indignation in the heart of the man: rage arose in the


s: youth's breast, livid hatred, and wrath by reason of


s: envy: then he wrought evil deeds with his hands, slew


s: his kinsman, his own brother, shed his blood,--yea,


s: Cain [shed] Abel's. And the earth soaked up this blood


s: shed by murder, the life-blood of a man.


s: After this fatal blow woe was aroused, the long train


s: of afflictions: since then from this twig have hatefully


s: sprouted ever longer and stronger bitter branches: these


s: branches of calamity spread far and wide over the nations


s: of men: hardly and sorely did the twigs of misery strike


s: the sons of men (and so they still do), from which the


s: broad leaves of all suffering began to spring. We may


s: tearfully lament this account, this death-bringing fatal-


s: ity, and not in vain: but the fair woman injured us


s: on earth ever committed against the Lord, since Adam


s: was filled with the breath of life by the mouth of God!


s: Then the Master of Splendor asked Cain through his


s: word, where Abel was, upon the earth. Quickly there-


s: upon the wicked worker of slaughter answered him:


s: "I know not Abel's coming or going, my kinsman's


s: Then the Prince of Angels, the Spirit rich in good


s: "Why didst thou cast that virtuous man, thy brother,


s: on his death-bed with thy violent hands, and his blood


s: now calleth and crieth unto me? For this murder


s: shalt thou undergo punishment and wander in exile


s: accursed unto distant ages: nor shall the earth, fair


s: for all necessary sustenance, yield thee harvest, for it


s: drank sacred blood at thy hands: therefore the earth,


s: verdant in beauty, denies thee its bounties. Infamous,


s: thou shalt sorrowfully wander from thy native land,


s: because thou hast been Abel's murderer: thou shalt


s: go forth an outcast over a long road, hateful to all thy


s: "Now I dare not hope for any grace in the kingdoms


s: of the world, for I have forfeited, O high King of heaven,


s: thy favor as well as love and peace: therefore shall I


s: travel far ways in expectation of woes, whensoever any


s: one far or near shall find me, in my guilt, who may


s: remember my crime, my brother's murder: I shed his


s: blood, his life-blood on the ground. On this day thou


s: dost banish me from comfort and drive me from my


s: native land: someone of my foes shall be my murderer;


s: accursed, O God, shall I wander from thy sight."


s: "Thou needst not as yet dread the terror of death


s: and murder, though thou shalt depart far from thy


s: friends, an outcast. If any man by his own hand


s: deprives thee of life, then shall come upon him sevenfold


s: vengeance for his sin, as penalty for his deed."


s: Our Ruler and glorious Lord set on him a sign, the


s: Master [set] a symbol of immunity, so that none of his


s: foes far or near might dare to approach him with warlike


s: intent; then he bade the wicked one leave forever his


s: mother and sons, all his family. Thereupon Cain set


s: out and departed sorrowing from before the face of God,


s: a joyless exile, and built himself a dwelling to the east,


s: a habitation far from his fatherland: there a fair maiden,


s: a woman of the country, bore him offspring.


s: The eldest was called Enos, first-born of Cain; he


s: began at once to build a city, with his kinsfolk: that


s: was the first beneath the clouds of all the fortifications


s: which heroes and swordsmen have caused to be built.


s: Therein his offspring first arose, born of his wife in the


s: citadel: the eldest son of Enos was called Jared. Thence


s: arose the tribe of Cain, which increased the numbers


s: of its race. Next to Jared, Malalehel was the keeper


s: of the heritage after his father, until he passed away.


s: Afterwards Mathusal shared the royal treasures with


s: his kinsfolk, with his brothers, scion after scion, until


s: wise through length of days he had to consummate


s: his departure from the world and forsake life. After


s: his father's day, Lamech received the household


s: goods and domestic wealth: two wives, Ada and


s: Sella, women of the country, bore offspring to him: of


s: these one was Jabal by name, son of Lamech, who


s: through skilful cunning first of dwellers here below


s: awoke by his hands the song of the harp, that melo-


s: Likewise, at this same time, there was in this family


s: a man called Tubal Cain, a son of Lamech, who through


s: the abundance of his skill was a master-smith, and first


s: among men through the craft of his mind he was the


s: inventor of agricultural implements upon earth: since


s: then the sons of men dwelling in cities have known far


s: Once on a time Lamech himself made in words a wicked


s: confession to his two wives, his dear bed-fellows, Ada


s: "In murder I have slain a certain one among my near


s: relations; I stained my hands with the gory death of


s: Cain, destroyed with my hands the father of Enos, the


s: slayer of Abel, and poured on the ground the life-blood


s: of a man. Well knew I that for this shall come at last


s: the sevenfold vengeance of the King of Truth, great


s: according to the crime: my fall and destruction shall


s: be more sternly meted out, with grim horror, when I


s: Now, there came to Adam in Abel's place another


s: heir born in legal wedlock, an upright son, whose name


s: was Seth: he was happy and contributed greatly to the


s: comfort of his parents, Adam and Eve, his father and


s: mother, and took Abel's place in worldly affairs.


s: Then the first of men spoke these words:


s: given me a son in place of the dear one whom Cain


s: slew, and our God has driven my grievous sorrow from


s: my heart with this man-child: to Him be praise for this!"


s: When he began again to raise up another son to him-


s: self by his wife, to be his heir, Adam the vigorous cham-


s: pion had [numbered] 130 winters of this life in the world.


s: The Scriptures tell us that on earth here for 800 years


s: after that, Adam increased his family with maidens


s: and youths: in all he had 930 winters, when he had to


s: give over this world through the departure of his spirit.


s: After him Seth ruled over the people, the son held


s: the heritage after the parents, and took unto himself


s: a wife: he counted 105 winters when he first began to


s: increase the numbers of his family by sons and daughters.


s: The eldest son of Seth was called Enos: he first of all


s: the children of man called upon God, since Adam


s: stepped upon the green grass, endowed with the spirit


s: of life. Seth was happy, and afterwards begot sons


s: and daughters for 807 winters: in all he had 912, when


s: the time was fulfilled that he should accomplish his


s: After him, when he departed out of the world, Enos


s: held the heritage, after the earth had received the body


s: of Seth, fruitful in the Lord. He was dear to God, and


s: lived here 90 winters before he begot children here by


s: his wife through intercourse: to him then was Cainan


s: first born, an heir in his ancestral home. Afterwards


s: for 815 winters in the peace of God, the wise hero


s: begot offspring, sons and daughters: he died, the sage


s: patriarch, when he had [fulfilled] 905 [years].


s: After Enos, Cainan was chieftain, keeper, and leader


s: of his race: he had [numbered] 70 winters before a son


s: was born to him: when an heir was born for the patri-


s: mony, this son of Cainan was called Malalehel. There-


s: after for 840 [years] he increased the number of his


s: family by [begetting] children. In all, the son of Enos


s: had [lived] 910 winters, when he left this world, when


s: the number of his appointed days under the expanse of


s: After him Malalehel kept the land and inheritance for


s: many seasons. The chieftain had [lived] 65 winters,


s: when he began to beget children by his wife. His wife


s: brought a son to him, the woman to the man: this son


s: in his childhood, as I have heard, the man-child in his


s: youth, was called Jared. After this Malalehel lived


s: long and rejoiced in [his] blessings, [all] the delights of


s: men here below and worldly treasures: 895 winters had


s: he numbered when he departed; to his son he left the


s: After him for a long while Yeared dispensed gold to


s: the people; the chieftain was noble, a pious hero, and a


s: ruler dear to his subjects; 165 expectant winters he


s: lived his life in this world, when his happiness arrived,


s: for his wife brought a son into the world: this son was


s: called Enoch, his fair first-born. But the father still


s: reckoning when he departed, the ancient patriarch,


s: when he gave up this world. And Yeared left land and


s: government to his wise [son], the dear leader.


s: After this Enoch raised aloft the sovereignty, the sagaci-


s: ous leadership of the people: in no wise did he let fall the


s: dominion and authority while he was guardian of his


s: kinsfolk: he enjoyed days of happiness, and begot sons,


s: for 300 winters; the Lord, the Ruler of the Skies, was


s: gracious to him. From this world the hero sought in


s: the body the joy and bliss of the Lord; in no wise did


s: he die the death of this earth, as men [ordinarily] do


s: here, young and old, when God takes away from them


s: their possessions and substance, [all] earth's treasures,


s: and their life as well: but while living he set forth with


s: the King of Angels out of this transitory life into bliss,


s: mother brought him forth to men. He left the people


s: to his to his eldest son, his first-born; 365 winters had he


s: For some time after him, his son Mathusal held the


s: inheritance, who for the longest space of time enjoyed


s: the pleasures of the world in this body: he begot a


s: multitude of sons and daughters, before the day of his


s: death. When he had to depart from among men, the


s: venerable hero had [enjoyed] 970 winters.


s: After him, his son Lamech held the government: for


s: a long time thereafter he ruled over the world; he had


s: tain to begin to beget noble heirs, sons and daughters.


s: the race well, and begot children: youths and maidens


s: arose as heirs to him. The eldest of them he named


s: Noe, who reigned over the land among men after Lamech


s: This sage ruler of the noblemen was 500 years old


s: when he first began to beget children, as the books tell.


s: The eldest son of Noe was called Sem, the next Cham,


s: The people multiplied widely under the skies: the


s: race of men increased in number over the earth, by


s: of Seth, that beloved leader of the people, were still


s: very much cherished, dear to the Lord and prosperous.


s: But when the sons of God began to seek brides among


s: the race of Cain, the accursed folk, and chose wives


s: from among them against the will of God, the children


s: of men from among the sinful maidens, beautiful and


s: bright, then the Ruler of the heavens pronounced his


s: wrath against mankind and spoke these words:


s: "The men of Cain's race have not been absent from


s: my mind, but that stock has sorely offended me. Now


s: the sons of Seth renew my wrath and take to themselves


s: the maidens of my enemies as wives: the fairness of the


s: women, the maidens' faces, and the eternal Fiend have


s: shamefully captivated the multitude of men who were


s: After that, for 120 winters, duly numbered, exile


s: afflicted the accursed race in this world; then the Lord


s: wished to inflict punishment upon the covenant-breakers,


s: and to smite with death the doers of evil, the giant folk


s: unloved by God, the great and sinful foes hateful to the


s: Lord, when the Wielder of Victory himself saw what


s: was man's wickedness on earth, and how they all were


s: bold in crime and utterly vicious. He thought to


s: punish rigorously the races of men, to seize upon the


s: peoples grimly and sorely, with cruel might: he repented


s: exceedingly that he had ever created the author of the


s: nations, the source of the peoples, when he fashioned


s: Adam. He said that on account of the sins of men he


s: would utterly blot out all that there was on earth,


s: destroy every one of the bodies in whose bosom the


s: breath of life was concealed: all that came near to the


s: sons of men, the Lord determined to annihilate.


s: Noe, the son of Lamech, just and honorable, was dear


s: to God, the Preserver. The Lord knew that the virtue


s: of the true man prevailed in the innermost thoughts of


s: his breast; therefore the Lord, holy in helpfulness, Pro-


s: tector of all men, told him by revelation what he pur-


s: posed inflicting upon the wicked ones: for he saw the


s: earth full of unrighteousness, the broad plains laden


s: with sin, polluted with foulness. Then spoke the Al-


s: "I am resolved to destroy humanity by means of a


s: deluge, and also every kind of living thing that the air


s: and waters produce and support, both beast and bird:


s: but thou shalt have shelter, with thy sons, when the


s: dark waters, the black floods of death, destroy mankind,


s: the vile sinners. Begin to build thee a ship, a mighty


s: sea-house, in which thou shalt give a place of refuge


s: to many a one and a safe home to every species on earth,


s: after thine own. Build partitions in the midst of the


s: ship. Make the boat fifty cubits wide, thirty high,


s: three hundred long, and joint it stoutly against the


s: assault of the waves. There shall be a creature of every


s: living species, a scion of every race on earth, led within


s: that wooden fortress; so must the Ark be the greater!"


s: Noe did as the Lord commanded him, obeyed the


s: holy King of Heaven, began at once to build that Ark,


s: the mighty sea-chest; he told his kinsmen that there


s: was a horrible thing impending over the people, dire


s: punishment: but they heeded this not at all. Then,


s: after several winters, the Changeless Lord saw that the


s: vast sea-house, Noe's vessel, towered up in readiness,


s: strengthened within and without with the best earth-


s: lime, against the waves; it is unique in its kind: the


s: harder the fierce waters of the dark billows beat it, the


s: Then our Preserver spoke to Noe: "I give thee my


s: pledge for this, O dearest of mankind, that thou mayst


s: now take up thy course with the creatures of all kinds


s: which thou shalt bear across the deep water for many


s: days, in the bosom of thy vessel. Lead on board the


s: Ark, as I bid thee, thy sons, the three first-born, and


s: your four wives. And do thou take into the sea-house


s: seven [members] duly counted of each of the species that


s: live to [supply] nourishment for men, and two of each


s: of the others: likewise take on the Ark some of all plants


s: growing on earth used for food by the people who are


s: to sail over the floods with thee. Feed freely the differ-


s: ent species of animals, until I shall prepare a place under


s: heaven by my Word for those who are saved from this


s: watery journey. Depart now with thy household into


s: the Ark, with the multitude of dependent things; I know


s: thee for a good and true man: thou art worthy of


s: safety and mercy, with thy sons. In seven nights now I


s: shall let the deadly rain fall from above upon the face


s: of the broad earth. For forty days will I set my ven-


s: geance against mankind, and with a deluge blot out all


s: the possessions and possessors that are beyond the sides


s: of the Ark, when the black storm begins to descend."


s: Then Noe left him, as our Preserver commanded, in


s: order to lead his children on board the Ark, men and their


s: wives together on the great ship; and all that God Al-


s: mighty wished to preserve for perpetuating their spe-


s: cies, went on board to their food-giver, as the Almighty


s: Lord of Hosts bade them through his word. With his


s: own hands, the Guardian of Heaven, Wielder of Victory,


s: locked the entrance of the sea-house behind them, and


s: our Saviour blessed [all] within the Ark with his own


s: grace. Noe, the son of Lamech, had 600 winters when


s: he embarked with his sons, at God's command,--that


s: wise man, with the young people, his dear kinsfolk.


s: The Lord sent rain from heaven, and likewise let


s: the springs from every source rush upon the world far


s: and wide, [let] the dark ocean-streams burst forth in


s: tumult: the seas rose up over the boundaries of the


s: shore. Strong and stern was He who ruled the waters,


s: for he covered and shrouded with wan waters the accursed


s: wickedness of the sons of the earth and devastated the


s: land and homes of men: the Lord wreaked [his fury]


s: upon men for their offences. The sea cruelly gripped


s: the wretched folk for forty days, and nights as many


s: bitter was the suffering then, cruelly fateful to men.


s: The waves of the King of Glory drove the souls of the


s: vicious ones forth from their bodies. The flood covered


s: everything; turbid under the sky [it covered] the high


s: mountains over the broad earth, and on its crest raised


s: the Ark aloft from the ground, and its noble crew with it,


s: when he locked the ship. Thereafter this best of ships


s: rode widely under the skies over the circle of the sea,


s: fared [forth] with its freight: the terrors of the flood


s: would have seized them with violence in the sea-traver-


s: sing vessel, but the Holy God led and preserved them.


s: Fifteen ells deep, by man's measure, stood the deluge


s: over the hills. That is a memorable occurrence: there


s: was nothing at hand for [the Ark] but destruction,


s: except that it was raised aloft into the upper air when


s: the inundation killed all creatures upon earth other than


s: those whom the Lord of Heaven saved on board the Ark,


s: when the Holy God everlasting, the steadfast King, let


s: Then God, Wielder of Victory, was mindful of those


s: floating on the deep, the son of Lamech and all his


s: family, whom the Source of Light and Life had locked


s: up against the water in the bosom of the ship. The


s: Lord of mankind led the heroes by his Word over far


s: lands. Soon the flood began to abate; the deluge ebbed,


s: dark under the sky: the true God had turned back again


s: the foaming waves, for his children; the Glorious One


s: the skies the foamy ship floated, from the time when


s: the well-nailed sides of this best of boats first arose


s: upon the flood until this number of days of dire time


s: had passed. Then the Ark of Noe, greatest of ocean-


s: homes, settled on high with its burden on the hills which


s: are called Armenia: there the pious son of Lamech


s: awaited the sure promises for a long time, when the


s: Keeper of Life, the Almighty King, gave him relief from


s: the perilous chances which he had long undergone,


s: when the dark waves bore him abroad on the deep over


s: The flood was sinking; the sea-farers, the heroes and


s: their wives, longed [for the time] when they might


s: venture to step out of their straitened quarters over the


s: well-nailed side out on the bank, and take their goods


s: out of their crowded home. So the guardian of the ship


s: tried to find out whether the waters were still sinking


s: under the clouds: accordingly, after many days from the


s: time the high mountain-sides received the possessions


s: and persons of the races of earth, the son of Lamech


s: let a black raven fly out of the Ark over the high flood.


s: Noe believed that if it found no land in its flight, it


s: would zealously seek him again on the ship over the wide


s: water. But this hope failed him; for the evil [bird]


s: alighted upon a floating corpse: the dark-feathered fowl


s: would not seek [further]. Then again after a week he sent


s: from the Ark a purple dove to fly over the high water


s: after the dark raven, for the purpose of finding out


s: whether the foamy sea, the ocean, had given up any


s: portion of the green earth, as yet. Widely she sought


s: her desired object, and flew afar: nowhere did she find


s: a resting-place, since she could not settle on land on foot


s: because of the flood, nor alight on a leaf of a tree


s: because of the waves; for the steep mountain-sides were


s: hidden by the waters. The wild bird set out in the


s: evening to seek the Ark over the dusky flood, and sank


s: weary and famished in the hands of the pious hero.


s: Then after a week the wild-dove was again sent out


s: from the Ark: she flew far, until greatly rejoicing she


s: found a fair place for rest and settled with her feet on


s: a tree; she exulted glad at heart, because exceedingly


s: weary [as she was] she could sit in the bright branches


s: of a tree: she shook out her wings and started to fly


s: back again with her gift, [for she] brought in her flight


s: an olive twig, green leaves, into the hands of one [on


s: board]. Then quickly the leader of the voyagers per-


s: ceived that solace had come, relief from their perilous


s: experience. So again after a third week the happy


s: man sent out a wild dove; it did not come flying back


s: to the ship, for it found land, green groves: the glad


s: creature did not wish to show itself ever again under the


s: pitch-smeared roof on the Ark, when there was no need.


s: Then to Noe spoke our Preserver, Ruler of Heaven,


s: "For you is a dwelling-place again appointed, fair


s: on the dry land, joys on earth and rest after your voyage.


s: Depart in peace out of the Ark, and lead forth upon the


s: bosom of the earth out of this lofty structure your com-


s: panions and all the creatures which I mercifully preserved


s: from the peril of the flood, while the deluge held sway


s: He did so, and obeyed the Lord, stood forth upon the


s: strand, as the Voice bade him, and with great joy led


s: out of the ship the survivors of these perils.


s: Then Noe began to institute a sacrifice to our Preserver,


s: and immediately took a part of all his possessions which


s: the Lord had given to him for his comfort, and then,


s: zealous for the offering, even to God Himself, King of


s: the Angels, the clear-souled man proffered the sacrifice.


s: Certainly our Saviour let it be known, when he blessed


s: Noe and his sons too, that [the patriarch] had given Him


s: this offering acceptably and in his youth had merited


s: by his good deeds that Almighty God, Glorious in


s: Splendor, should be gracious to him with all blessings.


s: Then again the Lord, Ruler of Glory, spoke a word to


s: "Increase now and multiply, enjoy your honor, with


s: the gladness of peace: fill the earth, make all things teem.


s: Into your possession is given a noble heritage, the produce


s: of the sea, the fowls of heaven, and the wild beasts,--


s: the verdant earth and every treasure. You shall


s: never dishonorably procure your food through bloodshed,


s: sinfully stricken in its life-blood. Each one first of all


s: injures himself in the riches of the spirit, who with the


s: edge of the sword takes the life of another: nor shall


s: he dare to rejoice in thought over the spoils, for I will


s: avenge a man's death all the more severely upon the


s: slayer and upon the fratricide, in proportion as blood-


s: shed, the slaughter of a man with weapons, or murder by


s: in the likeness of God: every man has the form of the


s: Lord and of the Angels, whose virtues follow my holy


s: will. Increase and multiply, enjoy riches and honor on


s: earth. Fill the countries of the world with people, your


s: offspring, sons and daughters. I will set up for you this


s: my pledge, that I will never again let loose the floods


s: upon the earth, the waters over the broad lands: you


s: may see this witness frequently upon the clouds, when


s: I show my rainbow, [as proof] that I will certainly keep


s: this bond with men, while the world lasts."


s: Thus was the prudent son of Lamech, the keeper of


s: the heritage, disembarked from his ship after the flood


s: with his three sons; and their four wives were named


s: Percoba, Olla, Olliva, and Ollivani, saved from the


s: waters by the true God. The stout-minded heroes,


s: the sons of Noe, were called Sem and Cham, and the third


s: Iafeth: from these warriors the nations sprang and all


s: this earth was filled with the children of men.


s: Then for the second time Noe began to establish his


s: home, with his kinsfolk, and to till the earth for food;


s: he struggled and toiled, planted a vineyard, sowed many


s: seeds and tended them carefully, so that the green


s: earth, with its fertile boon, brought him fair harvests.


s: Then it befell once that the blessed man was in his


s: dwelling, drunken with wine; weary of feasting he slept,


s: and thrust the robe from his body, as was not fitting, and


s: lay there with naked limbs: little he noticed that it went


s: so ill with him in his hall, when intoxication in his breast


s: gripped his heart in the holy house. In this torpor his


s: intelligence was cruelly crippled, so that he could not


s: call to mind [the necessity for] covering himself with his


s: clothing and concealing his nakedness, as was ordained


s: for men and women, ever since the minister of Glory


s: locked the native abode of life behind our [first father]


s: and mother, with a fiery sword. Now Cam, the son


s: of Noe, chanced to come in where his father lay bereft


s: of consciousness: thereupon would he dutifully no honor


s: show to his own father nor at least conceal the dis-


s: grace from his kinsmen; but laughing aloud he told


s: his brothers how the patriarch rested in the house.


s: They repaired thither speedily, their faces carefully


s: veiled under cloaks, so that they bore aid to the dear


s: man: they were both good men, Sem and Iafeth.


s: Then the son of Lamech awoke from his sleep and


s: soon perceived that Cham would not show him, the nobly


s: born, any affection and duty, when honor was due him.


s: That was bitter to the heart of the holy man, and he


s: began to curse his son with [harsh] words: he said that


s: Ham should be humbled under the heavens, the servant


s: of his kinsfolk on earth: on him and his race those


s: baneful words have fallen heavily, ever since. Then


s: Noe enjoyed his broad heritage with his sons, free men,


s: for 350 winters of this life after the flood: then he passed


s: After that his sons dispensed the treasures: they


s: begot children: great was their wealth. Thus to Iafeth


s: was progeny born, a pleasing family of promising young


s: ones, sons and daughters. He was a good man [and]


s: ever prosperously held his patrimony, [sharing his]


s: abundance with his children, until the treasure of his


s: breast, his spirit longing for release, was summoned to


s: the judgment of God: thereupon Geomor, Iafeth's son,


s: shared his father's property with his friends, dear ones,


s: and relatives; with his descendants was filled by genera-


s: Sons of Cham were born, likewise, heirs for the pa-


s: trimony: the eldest were called Chus and Cham, very


s: noble of soul, the first-born of Cham. Chus was the


s: chief of the leaders, dispenser of treasure and worldly


s: riches to his brothers, the private property of his father,


s: after Cham fared forth from the body when death fell


s: to his lot. This leader of the people delivered judgments


s: for his race until the number of his days had run: then


s: the hero yielded up this world's goods and sought another


s: life. After that, the son of Chus, first-born of the


s: brothers, ruled the paternal heritage, a widely known


s: man. So the Scriptures tell us, that he had the greatest


s: might and strength of all mankind, in those days: he


s: was a prince of the Babylonian Empire, and first of the


s: nobles raised, spread, and exalted its fame. At that


s: time one tongue was still common to all dwellers on


s: Likewise from Cam's stock sprang many descendants,


s: and to these numerous people great families were born.--


s: Furthermore many sons and daughters were born into


s: the world to Sem, noble folk, before the ruler of men


s: took to his death-bed, in the course of years. In this


s: family were good men, of whom one was called Eber, a


s: son of Sem: from this chief sprang a multitude of people,


s: whom all nations and earth-dwellers now call Hebrews.


s: They set out then to take their posssesions from the


s: eastward, live-stock and treasure; the people were un-