Classic Poem

II

Since Potiphar made you his overseer,
he has been blessed in house and field;
all that he has is in your hand,
and he knows of nothing but the bread that he eats.
And you in our house have become comely —
you were nothing but a bag of bones.
Come here!
Your cheeks were sunken so,
your eyes staring and your hair
dishevelled like this, like this.
Are not my hands soft?
You stepped as lightly as a deer,
as slim and graceful as a deer,
and held your head as proudly.
Sit here.
Kiss me.
Not so.
Oh, you don't know how to kiss.
Kiss me so.
Wet your lips and kiss me so.
Kiss my eyes, my throat,
now my mouth —
oh, you fool! You fool!

You are magicians and wise men at my feasts;
now, what is the meaning of my dreams?
" Have me in mind when it shall be well with you,
make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house;
for I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews;
and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon. "
Since then, two full years have passed, and until this day I have forgotten Joseph.

Therefore, let Pharaoh set a man, discreet and wise,
to appoint overseers, and these gather in the cities from the fields about them
grain in the good years against the years of famine.
Where can we find such a man?
I have no one discreet and wise as you.
You shall be over my house, and according to your word shall my people be ruled;
only I, on the throne, will be greater.
Clothe him in fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck,
he shall ride in the second chariot and all cry out before him, Bend the knee!

You are spies, you come to see the nakedness of the land.
No, my lord, we are not spies, we have come to buy food.
We are brothers, the sons of one man in Canaan.
And is your father yet alive?
He is.
Have you another brother?
We have.
We were twelve,
the youngest is with our father,
and one is no more.

My lord, we have brought you a present of the fruit of our land:
A little balm, a little honey, spicery and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.
Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive?
Is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke?

Why have you rewarded evil for good? Where is the cup from which my lord drinks?
The man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my bondsman.
Now when I come to the servant your father and the lad is not with us —
his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him —
let me remain instead of the lad, a bondsman to my lord.

Let every man go out but these.
I am Joseph.
Come nearer.
I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
And now be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves,
for I was sent before you to save us all alive;
you meant evil against me, but it was meant for good.
Go up to our father and say to him,
your son Joseph has become head of all Egypt;
without Joseph no man, except Pharaoh on the throne, lifts hand or foot throughout Egypt.
You have not thought to see his face and you shall see his sons also.
Come to him and you shall dwell in the land of Goshen —
and he shall be near me and his children and his children's children,
and bring all your flocks and herds and all that you have;
for there are yet five years of famine.
You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt;
you shall take wagons out of Egypt for your little ones and your wives, and bring our father and come;
and I will give you all the good of the land of Egypt.
I will establish my people like a pyramid,
no longer to be blown along like sand.