Poetry is what can lighten up a heart, yet so powerful that it can pull out the worst of us. Here you have a poem from the ancient days of Egypt, For glory of Ancient Memphis and Love.
*********
I am sailing downstream on the ferry,
(Guided) by the hand of the helmsman,
With my bundle of reeds on my shoulder.
I am bound for Ankh-Tawy,
And I shall say to Ptah, the Lord of Ma’at,
“Grant me my beloved this night.”
The river is wine,
Ptah is its reeds,
Sekhmet is its lotus leaf,
Iadet is its lotus bud,
Nefertum is its lotus flower,
There is rejoicing as the land brightens in its beauty;
Memphis is a bowl of mandrakes
Laid before the god who is beauteous of face.
*********
A Love poem
2.
*********
I shall go out [to seek my lover].
[I yearn] for your love,
And my heart stops within me,
To look at a sweet cake
Is like looking at salt;
Sweet pomegranate wine in my mouth
Is like the bitter gall of birds.
The breath of your nostrils
Is the sole thing which can revive my heart,
And I am determined that Amun will grant you to me
For ever and eternity.
*********
NOTE:
These poems /songs are from the Papyrus Harris 500 (British Museum 10060).
Anthony Charles Harris, 1790 – 1869, was a merchant and an official supplier for the army he served in. As an armature, he indeed collected very interesting papyrus scrolls. The papyrus is said to date from the Ramesside Period.
Reference:
‘The Literature of Ancient Egypt’
The American University in Cairo Press
Copyright © 2000 Karima Lachtane
All Rights Reserved
This entry was posted
on Sunday, November 02, 2008
at Sunday, November 02, 2008
and is filed under
Amun,
ancient Egypt,
Harris papyrus,
lotus,
love songs,
Memphis,
poetry
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