Idylls and Lyrics of The Nile By H. D. Rawnsley |
 |
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
| VIII. |
| IX. |
| X. |
| XI. |
| XII. |
| XIII. |
| XIV. |
| XV. |
| XVI. |
| XVII. |
| XVIII. |
| XIX. |
| XX. |
| XXI. |
| XXII. |
| XXIII. |
| XXIV. |
| XXV. |
| XXVI. |
| XXVII. |
| XXVIII. |
| XXIX. |
| XXX. |
| XXXI. |
| XXXII. |
| XXXIII. |
| XXXIV. |
| XXXV. |
| XXXVI. |
| XXXVII. |
| XXXVIII. |
| XXXIX. |
| XL. |
| XLI. |
| XLII. |
| XLIII. |
| XLIV. |
| XLV. |
| XLVI. |
| XLVII. |
| XLVIII. |
| XLIX. |
| L. |
| LI. |
| LII. |
| LIII. |
| LIV. |
| LV. |
| LVI. |
| LVII. |
| LVIII. |
| LIX. |
| LX. |
| LXI. |
| LXII. |
| LXII. | LXII AT PHILAE |
| LXIV. |
 | Idylls and Lyrics of The Nile |  |
145
LXII AT PHILAE
(A PROPHECY)
Above the palms uprose a temple fair
The Grecian monarch for Osiris made,
You well might think that down the water stair
Would throng the priests, or fill the colonnade,
For Nectanebo—last of all his line—
Had come to view the building of his shrine;
The Grecian monarch for Osiris made,
You well might think that down the water stair
Would throng the priests, or fill the colonnade,
For Nectanebo—last of all his line—
Had come to view the building of his shrine;
Might dream of Cleopatra,
she whose name,
Graved on her obelisk, became the key
Whereby men read of Egypt, and the fame
Of those old days, before Arsinoë
Bade Philadelphus unto Isis rear
His splendid ‘Hall for Lamentations’ here.
Graved on her obelisk, became the key
Whereby men read of Egypt, and the fame
Of those old days, before Arsinoë
Bade Philadelphus unto Isis rear
His splendid ‘Hall for Lamentations’ here.
The solemn boatman stretched a jet-black hand,
Such hand as clasped of old the heavy oar,
And night and day went upward through the sand
Of Nûb, to row from Philae's holy shore
Once in the year, great Isis, borne to bless
The Ethiop in his burning wilderness.
Such hand as clasped of old the heavy oar,
And night and day went upward through the sand
Of Nûb, to row from Philae's holy shore
146
The Ethiop in his burning wilderness.
I stepped to land, I passed the towered gate
Where the fierce Ptolemy lifts his axe of might,
Saw thro' the gloom the chapel walls relate
Of Horus born to slay the dark by light,
And heard the parable of song made plain,
That tames the hand and bids it sow the grain.
Where the fierce Ptolemy lifts his axe of might,
Saw thro' the gloom the chapel walls relate
Of Horus born to slay the dark by light,
And heard the parable of song made plain,
That tames the hand and bids it sow the grain.
Thence ent'ring to the pillared palms up-grown
With fronds of glorious colour, fadeless still,
I found our King of Light and Peace had sown
To sound of song his seed of gracious will,
That here one time the worshipper was fed
By Him who came from Heaven, to be Earth's bread.
With fronds of glorious colour, fadeless still,
I found our King of Light and Peace had sown
To sound of song his seed of gracious will,
That here one time the worshipper was fed
By Him who came from Heaven, to be Earth's bread.
147
Feed us, I cried, with that sweet Food of yore,
And bid this island sanctuary hear
Again the oath by which old Egypt swore,
‘By Him who sleeps in Philae,' chanted clear;
Let God awake! for Isis, Christ return,
And pour His peace to Nilus' troubled urn!
And bid this island sanctuary hear
Again the oath by which old Egypt swore,
‘By Him who sleeps in Philae,' chanted clear;
Let God awake! for Isis, Christ return,
And pour His peace to Nilus' troubled urn!
E'en as I prayed, above the sorrowful sound
Of nations weary for their warrior hates,
Men sang, ‘The Prince of Peace again is crowned;
Lift up your heads, ye everlasting gates!
Where the Hawk-god of Ethiopia pined,
Where Isis lingered late, is Christ enshrined.’
Of nations weary for their warrior hates,
Men sang, ‘The Prince of Peace again is crowned;
Lift up your heads, ye everlasting gates!
Where the Hawk-god of Ethiopia pined,
Where Isis lingered late, is Christ enshrined.’
I gazed across the flood to that dark stone—
Great ‘Pharaoh's seat,’—I heard the river cry,
Methought a mightier King is on his throne,
A stronger stream henceforward passes by,
The cataract dooms of Death may bellow near,
Lo! Christ has come,—and Life and Peace are here.
Great ‘Pharaoh's seat,’—I heard the river cry,
Methought a mightier King is on his throne,
A stronger stream henceforward passes by,
The cataract dooms of Death may bellow near,
Lo! Christ has come,—and Life and Peace are here.
Champollion, by means of this name on the obelisk at Philae, since carried away to Corfe Castle, Dorset, discovered an important key to hieroglyphics.
The Blemyes, an ancient Ethiopic nation, had the privilege of conveying each year, from the sanctuary of Philae, the image of the goddess Isis to visit their temples in the land of Nub. Philae, after the desertion of Abydos, became the centre of Osirian worship. It was called ‘The Holy Island.’
Within the painted portico of the large temple may be seen a credence table and aumbry with the cross upon them. The Copts under Abbot Theodore appear to have taken possession of the island at the end of the fifth century. Travellers will remember the Christian basilica north-west of the temple.
| Idylls and Lyrics of The Nile | |