Classic Poem

Now Lot, the son of Haran, dwelt within
The city's walls and loved its many ways;
But he was pure of heart unto his praise,
And much deplored all God-defying sin.

He lived estranged from the licentious throng,
Doting upon the fairness of his wife,
Proud of the blameless quiet of his life,
A righteous man and unashamed of song.

For he had sisters twain, alert and gay,
Milcah and Iscah, and their voices, blent
In praise to God, would send a ravishment
Unto him, at the twilight of the day.

His cares were many, having many tents,
Asses and numerous flocks, and camels, too;
And he was judge, and had just deeds to do,
Though there was little for his recompense.

His tastes were simple, for he loved his herds,
His silent oxen with imploring eyes,
And loved to see them graze, for he was wise,
And smiled at the sweet trebles of his birds.

He praised the beauteous advent of the spring,
And the rare, fructuous loves of heaven and earth;
Their beauteous nuptials brought prolific birth,
Like rain on meadows when the sparrows sing.

And he was fain to worship and adore
In his heart's secrecy a higher god
Than Nergal, who to him was but a clod;
And he was rich enough to scent his floor.

Now Ilcah, Lot's fair wife, in Sodom born,
Was in her sullied heart adverse to him;
Because his eyes by labor had grown dim,
She suffered by his love in silent scorn.

For he was like old dreamers in the night,
Loving to doze and ponder on his herds,
And even his infrequent passion words
Were tame unto her, offering no delight.

She, in the blooming May-time of her years,
With passionate eyes and lustrous veils of hair,
Yearned for love's ecstasy and its despair,
A love of laughter, ravishment and tears.

And she, grown weary of Lot's grave renown,
Would seek the city's heart on festal days,
And strut like zonahs on its marble ways,
For she adored a man within the town,

One whom her girlish spirit idolized,
A valorous chief, a most athletic man,
With mighty limbs, known as the lord Suran,
Who for his famed virility was prized.

And he had led her to Vul's temple, where,
Ravished by his bright armor and the glance
Of conquering eyes, in a voluptuous trance
She veiled his breast with all her loosened hair.

And while the priests officiating cried:
" Give to great Vul, oh women! all your charms! "
She lay amort with love within his arms,
And on his perfumed bosom softly sighed.

And he, for she was ravenous to learn,
Taught her the mysteries and the holy rites
That steeped her bosom in unknown delights,
Strange pressures, and new minglements that burn!

And she revered the aroma of his beard,
Giving her radiant body for his play,
And in the temple in the hot midday,
Alone, to tempt his vigor she appeared.

Veiled to the eyes, but amorous of the spot,
Loving the sensual magic of the gloom,
Seeking sweet impious bonds that foster doom,
Her heart made merry by her scorn of Lot.

Her limbs were maddened by strong Suran's touch;
She sang to him in passionate unrest;
His curled head was warm upon her breast;
His flanks were fruitful, and she loved him much.

Ay, with such adoration that, to fill
His lecherous eyes with raptures held so dear,
She would have braved cold death without a fear,
If, following, Suran would have loved her still!

To please his whim at the great autumn feast,
Held to Vul's glory on the dying year,
Rosy and nude, fair Ilcah did appear,
Surrendering her beauty to the priest.

Ay, in the holy vaults, for Suran's sake,
She learned the arcana of the zonahs there,
Slumbering with women amorous and bare,
So that he, too, in pleasure might partake.

And she in beauty through the temple trod,
Warm with her loves and flushed by flowers and wine,
Hailing her prostitution as divine
And most delightful. worthy of her god.

And Lot had honored her with manly trust,
And let the days pass dreaming of his herds,
Counting his kine and listening to his birds,
Serenely unsuspicious and most just.