 | In the Studio |  |
87
CHURCH AND STATE AT THEBES.
“To Ramses, twice-crowned, for ever
Sole Lord from the Falls to the Seas,
From Ptahmes, Priest of the River,
With greeting of holiness these:—
Sole Lord from the Falls to the Seas,
From Ptahmes, Priest of the River,
With greeting of holiness these:—
“Behold, O King, I was praying
In the House of the River this night,
And the River spake to me, saying:
`Take a reed in thy hand and write:
In the House of the River this night,
And the River spake to me, saying:
`Take a reed in thy hand and write:
“‘Ye have watched by the pulse everlasting
Keeping time with the years in my flood:
Ye have seen how its waxing and wasting
Have builded this land of my blood:
Keeping time with the years in my flood:
Ye have seen how its waxing and wasting
Have builded this land of my blood:
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“‘Year on year ye have offered me greeting
Of prayer and victim and praise:
But the secret heart and its beating,
My heart—ye have known not its ways.
Of prayer and victim and praise:
But the secret heart and its beating,
My heart—ye have known not its ways.
“‘Now hearken and mark, for the measure
Of the times is full to the brim:
I will open the gates of my treasure
To the children of Misraim.
Of the times is full to the brim:
I will open the gates of my treasure
To the children of Misraim.
“‘I will manifest that which is hidden,
My Name in my Holy Place:
My Kings and my Prophets unchidden
Shall speak with me face to face.
My Name in my Holy Place:
My Kings and my Prophets unchidden
Shall speak with me face to face.
“‘No more shall ye call me the River,
Which is but the vein of my wrist:
Henceforth ye shall know me The Giver,
The God of the King and the Priest!
Which is but the vein of my wrist:
Henceforth ye shall know me The Giver,
The God of the King and the Priest!
89
“‘Now therefore, send messengers running,
To the house of my servant, the King:
Bid him send for his craftsmen of cunning,
And see that they do this thing:
To the house of my servant, the King:
Bid him send for his craftsmen of cunning,
And see that they do this thing:
“‘Bid him summon his carpenters hither,
And them of the stone-cutter's trade,
The mortar and brick-men together,
And them of the trowel and spade:
And them of the stone-cutter's trade,
The mortar and brick-men together,
And them of the trowel and spade:
“‘Two and two, each man with his neighbour
He shall range them in order and rank,
For behold, I have need of their labour
To build me a wall and a bank.
He shall range them in order and rank,
For behold, I have need of their labour
To build me a wall and a bank.
“‘A bank and a wall for my waters,
A bank from the Falls to the sea,
That ye and your sons and your daughters
May know there is none like Me!
A bank from the Falls to the sea,
That ye and your sons and your daughters
May know there is none like Me!
90
“‘Forty cubits in height ye shall build it,
And twenty in breadth at the top:
For thus I the Giver have willed it,
To hallow mine uttermost drop.
And twenty in breadth at the top:
For thus I the Giver have willed it,
To hallow mine uttermost drop.
“‘Your soil by its yearly ablution
My life-blood no more shall defile;
No more shall both Egypts' pollution
Be shame to the Godhead of Nile!
My life-blood no more shall defile;
No more shall both Egypts' pollution
Be shame to the Godhead of Nile!
“‘I, the Giver, have hidden my sources,
My paths in the ways of the deep:
I charge ye, make holy my courses,
Lest I leave ye your cities a heap!’”
My paths in the ways of the deep:
I charge ye, make holy my courses,
Lest I leave ye your cities a heap!’”
Just three years later, in winter,
At the last of the New Sun feasts,
Came out a decree to the minter
To coin the plate of the priests.
At the last of the New Sun feasts,
Came out a decree to the minter
To coin the plate of the priests.
91
Therewithal, too, the King bade deliver
This letter to Ptahmes the Seer:
“From the King to the Priest of the Giver,
Health, greeting, and grace through the year!
This letter to Ptahmes the Seer:
“From the King to the Priest of the Giver,
Health, greeting, and grace through the year!
“Three years have my people been toiling
To build at the Giver's behest,
And behold, it hath turned to their spoiling,
They are starving, the most and the least.
To build at the Giver's behest,
And behold, it hath turned to their spoiling,
They are starving, the most and the least.
“The Giver hath smitten with famine,
And there comes from the famine a cry:
‘Where, O Giver, the plenty we swam in?
Give us bread! Give us bread, for we die!’
And there comes from the famine a cry:
‘Where, O Giver, the plenty we swam in?
Give us bread! Give us bread, for we die!’
“Now therefore, make search, I beseech thee
What stirreth the wrath of the God?
Entreat Him in prayer till He teach thee
How the land may be free from the rod.”
What stirreth the wrath of the God?
Entreat Him in prayer till He teach thee
How the land may be free from the rod.”
92
Came the messenger back on the morrow
From Ptahmes the Seer to the King:
“O King, lo, a burden of sorrow,
A wondrous and terrible thing!
From Ptahmes the Seer to the King:
“O King, lo, a burden of sorrow,
A wondrous and terrible thing!
“Behold, O King, I was praying
In the House of the Giver this night,
And the Giver spake to me, saying,
`Take a reed in thy hand and write:
In the House of the Giver this night,
And the Giver spake to me, saying,
`Take a reed in thy hand and write:
“‘Have ye sought me at last in your danger?
Now at last would ye learn of My will?
Behold, I am God, the Avenger!
Ye are mine, or to spare or to spill!
Now at last would ye learn of My will?
Behold, I am God, the Avenger!
Ye are mine, or to spare or to spill!
“‘Ye have builded my bulwarks unheedful
Of Him in whose veins is the flood:
Ye have left undone that was needful:
I will have of ye blood for blood!
Of Him in whose veins is the flood:
Ye have left undone that was needful:
I will have of ye blood for blood!
93
“‘Take ye one of your highest and chiefest
Of your nobles and men of note;
To the King be he nearest and liefest,
Ye shall bury him up to the throat.
Of your nobles and men of note;
To the King be he nearest and liefest,
Ye shall bury him up to the throat.
“‘Ye shall bury him thus by my waters
To the throat in the ooze of the clay,
And the King shall give charge to his daughters
To wait on him night and day.
To the throat in the ooze of the clay,
And the King shall give charge to his daughters
To wait on him night and day.
“‘Night and day shall they feed him and tend him
And watch by my bulwarks of stone,
Till the kiss of my rising shall send him
To mingle his life with mine own.
And watch by my bulwarks of stone,
Till the kiss of my rising shall send him
To mingle his life with mine own.
“‘Now send to the King; bid him hearken
And yield to the Giver's command:
Or a vengeance thrice treble shall darken
The thresholds of want in the land!’”
And yield to the Giver's command:
Or a vengeance thrice treble shall darken
The thresholds of want in the land!’”
94
“Call me Noph, Chief Scribe for the Armies,”
Said the King, “to my presence with speed!
I have learnt what the root of the harm is,
Write swiftly, O Scribe, with thy reed!
Said the King, “to my presence with speed!
I have learnt what the root of the harm is,
Write swiftly, O Scribe, with thy reed!
“‘From the King to Phraor, Commander
Of the Hosts of the Riverain, these:
No longer shall Misraim slander
My rule from the Falls to the seas.
Of the Hosts of the Riverain, these:
No longer shall Misraim slander
My rule from the Falls to the seas.
“‘None is higher than Ptahmes nor chiefer
Of my nobles and men of note:
None nearer than Ptahmes nor liefer:
Go, bury him up to the throat!
Of my nobles and men of note:
None nearer than Ptahmes nor liefer:
Go, bury him up to the throat!
“‘Go, bury him straight by the River
To the throat in the ooze of the clay:
He himself hath declared that the Giver
Demandeth him thus for His prey!
To the throat in the ooze of the clay:
He himself hath declared that the Giver
Demandeth him thus for His prey!
95
“‘Take heed that he lives. Then go straightway
And see that these bulwarks be cut:
Make for every canton a gateway
As far as the waters are shut.
And see that these bulwarks be cut:
Make for every canton a gateway
As far as the waters are shut.
“‘My daughters shall wait on the Prophet
With breads dipped in oxymel:
For the Bank—let none go from off it
Till the breaches are open. Farewell!’”
With breads dipped in oxymel:
For the Bank—let none go from off it
Till the breaches are open. Farewell!’”
Said Ramses the King, when the river
Brought harvest once more as it rose,
“Let Misraim worship the Giver,
Made glad by the gifts He bestows”
Brought harvest once more as it rose,
“Let Misraim worship the Giver,
Made glad by the gifts He bestows”
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