Classic Poem

The beacon fire blazed from the tower of Bel,
The tower held sacred to the highest priest,
And lo! the incense and the fragrant wood
Rose in sweet vapor to the attendant gods,
And filled their mighty nostrils with delight.
The brazen tripod holder of such scent
Was holy unto them; they granted prayers,
Caused rain, gave children, victory and gold
To their obedient city, dutiful.
Yea, and he blessed the fountains and the doves
Within the temple's courts, and even came
Invisible behind the crimson silk
That curtained their choice shrine, and calmly gazed
Upon the lotus woven thereon in gold;
And often, calling to the dazzled priest
Burning delicious santal at their feet,
Would bid him summon from the vineyards near
Some favored maid who sold the city grapes,
And guide her trembling limbs with surest hand,
Among the man-faced lions of the court,
Unto his shrine, and there be fond with her,
All for his glory, for the priest's delight
Would satisfy the cravings of the god!
And so it came to pass when Beltis spake,
For, if the maid was sweet and loved her god,
She was to gain an ell of Tyrian silk,
A silver lute, and have her choice of doves.
Then would the dull-eyed eunuchs bear her home
And leave her, happy, fertile by her god,
Exempt forever from Mylitta's law.

Here of the gods were all the shrines and altars
Blending with gold, with crimson, silk and marble.
Here the great planetary gods, in number
Seven, and only seven, were humbly worshiped:
Adar and Nergal, Merodach with Nebo,
Ishtar and Bel, and Anu the all-holy.
While in the sacred cincture of the temple,
Perfumed and flowerful, stood the sacred statues
Of Shamas, the god of light and all things beauteous,
Of Abitur, the lord of hills and mountains,
Of Moloch, god of war and devastation,
Of El, a king of gods, the god of thunder;
And near him, gods eleven, who obeyed him,
Although they also were high gods in heaven.

Here were the deathless spirits of heaven, three hundred,
Adored with cries, and blood, and genuflections,
Ay, and of earth six hundred perfect spirits,
With Mulgè, god of under-worlds, their master,
And Hea, lord of earth and king of rivers.
Unto great Vul, the god of rain, a clamor
Rose from the people, for the fields were arid
In distant valleys of the mighty Empire.
And, though they lived in bounteous abundance,
Their hearts grew sore to think of starving brothers.

Then came sweet maidens praying unto Beltis,
With choruses of praise and tinkling timbrels,
Hailing the great god Ashtaroth, who near her
Breathed upon earth the spirit of all beauty;
For he was crowned with stars and lord of serpents.
To eagle-headed Nisroch came the warriors,
Fresh from a hundred fields of bestial carnage,
And hailed him and his neighbor god, fierce Dagon.
Yea, and they hailed Bel-shar-uzzur's sweet mother,
Nitocris fair and radiant as the sunrise,
Beloved of El and Bel, the lords of Sumia,
Beloved of Gulè, the serene sun-goddess,
And of sweet Sin, the lustrous, loving moon-god.

Then, having bowed before the lofty rulers,
The people, trembling as the grass in tempests,
Came to a shrine above all others holy,
The emblem of some awful power superior
To fate and to eternity, an essence
Symbolical, omnipotent and mystic,
Vaguely expressed by one great golden circle
Encompassed by a wheel of wings angelic!

Then toward the statue of immortal Vul
Five hundred scented priests with solemn tread
Marched, bearing lambs for slaughter, and much spice,
And at his altars' grees made pause and sang: