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Idylls and Lyrics of The Nile

By H. D. Rawnsley
Rawnsley, H. D. (1851-1920)

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[section]
  
[dedication]
 I. 
I A RETURN TO EGYPT
 II. 
II THE FIRST CALL TO PRAYER
 III. 
III THE DANCING DERVISHES
 IV. 
IV EL FÂT'HA
 V. 
V AÎSHA'S TEARS
 VI. 
VI STREET CRIES
 VII. 
VII THE FATHER OF THE CATS
 VIII. 
VIII DESERTED BY THE CARAVAN
 IX. 
IX THE SAKÎYEH AT THE FOUNTAIN OF THE SUN
 X. 
X AT HELIOPOLIS
 XI. 
XI THE OBELISK AT HELIOPOLIS
 XII. 
XII MENA HOUSE
 XIII. 
XIII THE PYRAMID OF MEN-KAU-RA
 XIV. 
XIV MORNING MIST ON THE GREAT PYRAMID
 XV. 
XV THE DREAM OF THOTHMES IV
 XVI. 
XVI BEFORE THE STATUE OF CHEPHREN
 XVII. 
XVII SISTE VIATOR, ORA PRO NOBIS!
 XVIII. 
XVIII THE SHÊKH EL BELED
 XIX. 
XIX THE LADY NEFERT
 XX. 
XX A QUEEN'S GAZELLE
 XXI. 
XXI THE MUMMY OF SESOSTRIS
 XXII. 
XXII AN OLD-WORLD HERO
 XXIII. 
XXIII AFTER THE BATTLE OF MAHUTA
 XXIV. 
XXIV IN THE FIELDS OF MÎT-RAHÎNEH
 XXV. 
XXV LIFTING THE COLOSSAL STATUE OF RAMESES II
 XXVI. 
XXVI AT THE TOMB OF THI
 XXVII. 
XXVII AT JOSEPH'S TOMB
 XXVIII. 
XXVIII AHMED THE CARPENTER
 XXIX. 
XXIX EVENING
 XXX. 
XXX NIGHT WATCHERS
 XXXI. 
XXXI NILE BOATS
 XXXII. 
XXXII A SCARAB
 XXXIII. 
XXXIII THE SHADÛF-MAN
 XXXIV. 
XXXIV THE MARRIAGE OF THE PALMS
 XXXV. 
XXXV WATER-CARRIERS
 XXXVI. 
XXXVI WATER-CARRIERS
 XXXVII. 
XXXVII WATER-CARRIERS
 XXXVIII. 
XXXVIII A BUFFALO RIDE
 XXXIX. 
XXXIX THE AFTER-GLOW
 XL. 
XL PADDY-BIRDS
 XLI. 
XLI A NILE BOAT-LOAD
 XLII. 
XLII A MONKISH SWIMMER
 XLIII. 
XLIII AT THE TOMB OF AMENI AMENEMHÂT
 XLIV. 
XLIV THE DREAM-CITY OF KHUENÂTEN
 XLV. 
XLV GOING TO ASSIOUT
 XLVI. 
XLVI BIRD-SCARING
 XLVII. 
XLVII A WAYSIDE BABE
 XLVIII. 
XLVIII AT ABYDOS
 XLIX. 
XLIX AT KENEH
 L. 
L AT DENDERAH
 LI. 
LI A PORTRAIT OF CLEOPATRA.
 LII. 
LII A PAPYRUS HUNT
 LIII. 
LIII AT THE RAMESSEUM
 LIV. 
LIV IN A KING'S TOMB
 LV. 
LV QUEEN HATASU
 LVI. 
LVI HOW THE COLOSSI CAME TO THEBES
 LVII. 
LVII AN INSCRIPTION ON THE VOCAL MEMNON
 LVIII. 
LVIII QUAILS AND THE VOCAL MEMNON
 LIX. 
LIX HABEEBEH'S LOVE
 LX. 
LX AT KOM OMBO
 LXI. 
LXI A POTSHERD AT ELEPHANTINE
 LXII. 
LXII SHOOTING THE CATARACT
 LXII. 
LXII AT PHILAE
 LXIV. 
LXIV THE MAHDI'S MESSAGE

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23

XI THE OBELISK AT HELIOPOLIS

[_]

(SET UP BEFORE THE TEMPLE OF TUM BY USERTESEN I. ABOUT B.C. 2443)

He who set this stone where it stands
Was ‘Hor of the Sun,’ the Life for men,
King of the Upper and Lower lands,
Cheper-ka-ra Usertesen.
He, the Lord of the double crown,
Life for all that of woman is born—
Usertesen, long let his name be known,
Son of the Sun-god Ra—the morn.
Friend of all the spirits of On,
Golden Hor in his loved abode,
Life of the father and life of the son,
Cheper-ka-ra, beneficent God.
He it was planted this stone whence it rears
Full in front of the Sun-god's portal,
Gave it the feast of the thirty years,
He the Dispenser of Life Immortal.
24

So from the midst of the silent heaps,
The broken walls of the city of An,
Speaks the pillar that solemnly keeps
The faith of a god, the trust of a man.
 

Note.—The translation of the hieroglyphics inscribed upon the obelisk of Heliopolis, which is embodied in the above poem, is taken from Brugsch's Egypt under the Pbaraobs, vol. i. chap. ix. p. 131.

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