But as he kicked the dust dregs of his crumbled hut
he saw swarms of ash-colored ants thrust in the ground,
and his mind cleared with understanding, but his heart 1275
hung heavy still as he took the road back, depressed.
The earth still simmered, the sun rolled in heavy blood
and the whole glimmering town was splattered with fine flame.
The windless waters of the lake boiled from their depths,
the crunch of stones was heard far off as though beasts ran, 1280
trees suddenly creaked, then all at once remained quite still.
“Hold tight, my soul, I think earth’s crust will split in two!”
Swallows flew off in flocks, but crashed in the false dusk,
ducks winged toward far-off waters with their necks outstretched,
and as the archer ran, he heard a clamorous roar. 1285
Turning, he saw thick droves of rats dash down the rocks
from the high summit, screeching as they leapt in fright,
and laughed to see their hairy snouts trembling with fear:
“Oho, see how their gallant whiskers bristle now!”
the god-moved archer yelled, then stopped to watch his town. 1290
Crowds swarmed the streets and decked them with fresh myrtle boughs
that God might come as bridegroom and take full possession.
For a long time he looked with pride and fainting heart:
“O city, iron castle and high tent of hope,
God, who once roamed all roads, a tramp with bloody feet, 1295
will like a good grandfather now be walled to rock
his grandsons; and that drunken, wide-winged fantasy,
that once chased air, will fly down to your fields with wings
clipped now, and like a housewife glean her fruitful grain.
I like to grasp the mind’s slow turtle in my claws 1300
and lift it toward the sun-shot peaks of air, to God,
that it, too, may rejoice in the whole rhythmic round
for a brief flash before it sinks to its humble lot.
City, I want to hunt no longer now, I long
to bind my harehound mind to your strong virgin walls; 1305
the time has come, my heart is full, my claws are slaked.”
Sweetly his sated lips moved in the gathering dusk:
“Much does my mind plan for you, city, like a father
who feels his son stand in earth’s heart with all roads open.”
Then the great lord of towns stopped speaking, his heart choked, 1310
and once more, panting, he lunged down the mountain slope,
but in the rough rocks suddenly saw a coupling pair
so clasped in the sweet giddiness of love they could
not hear his tread nor even an earthquake’s heaving roar;
it seemed as though an azure smoke hung over them. 1315
“They’ve both caught fire, and burn,” the flame-brained archer thought.
“May God be with them, may their seed grow tall and strong!”
and then he tiptoed softly from that holy place.
At the town gate he met broad-buttocks, mounted high,
decking the town with laurel berries and myrtle boughs, 1320
and Crete’s flame-crimson castle flashed within his mind
where once broad Kentaur decked it like a votive beast;
nor did he speak for fear he’d raise the evil-omened bird.
The bride-wreathed streets and byways smelled of flowering boughs,
and noisy child-filled courtyards chirped like poplar trees 1325
that, as the sun sets, sing with nests and fluttering wings.
In all the women’s quarter, new-baked wheaten bread
swelled in the ovens and filled all hearts with fragrant scent;
a plump maid, who would soon give birth, heaved a deep sigh,
and all girls swiftly brought her bits of fresh-baked bread 1330
that she might not untimely drop her child from greed.
A mother’s crooning lullaby arose far off
and it, too, scattered everywhere in dusk like smoke:
“My son, my eagle, when with sharp birth-pangs I bore you,
why did I not sprout golden wings and soar in sun, 1335
why was the earth not dazed to flower in winter snow,
why did the swallows not return with song, my son?
If there’s a God, he lies here in my cradle now!”
The archon’s proud eyes filled with tears of brimming joy:
“Give birth, increase on earth, lie in each other’s arms 1340
so that the blind ants may not eat us and choke God;
all my deep hopes now lie in you, child-bearing maid.”
He murmured, then stopped in joy before a curly boy
who swaggered proudly by in the conceit of youth,
his bold eyes slashed by inexpressible deep dreams. 1345
The young man swung by like a cock, and every lane
burst into bloom, the cobbles shone like precious stones,
the rooftops sprang with banners, young girls cast their musk,
and even the humble hungry hen plumed like a peacock;
Death held a crimson rose and waved it in his hand. 1350
Meanwhile hot lightning bolts like snakes slid through the lake
and parrots suddenly rose in green and azure clouds,
cawed raucously and sped north past the sultry town.
“It’s a good omen, lads! They passed by on the right,”
broad-bottom yelled, but all at once his thick voice choked, 1355
feeling the man-destroyer’s eyes devour him whole.
“Hold on, by God! Once more a demon mounts him, hooved
and clawed, and once again smoke swirls from his dark head,”
he groaned, then searched the woods to cut more myrtle boughs.
But the man-murderer deplored his own harsh glance 1360
and his heart longed to brim, to clasp his friend, to say,
“Forgive me, friend, I love you, but my throat feels choked,
earth and God crush me with oppressive weight today,”
but his mind screamed in mockery till he stopped with shame.
He saw the Evening Star that throbbed in mist on high 1365
as on the moon’s dim face a moldy shadow fell
and crawled up bit by bit, covered the pallid chin,
spread past the mouth, then swiftly rushed to blind the eyes.
All light on earth had swooned away, trees shook with fright,
the birds and beasts began to screech, and wrought-up youths 1370
shot flame-tailed arrows at the sky with reckless pride; 1371
unmarried maidens bared their breasts, and wedded maids
lit bonfires by their doorsteps to inspirit the moon.
The suffering man watched how the leprous shadow ate
the full moon’s cool refreshing face that rose with calm 1375
till only the white brow remained like a lean scythe.
Night swooped on earth with greedy lips, stars burst to view,
and silent flashes flickered at the sky’s dark rim.
“I’m stifling,” a pale woman shouted, big with child,
and on her burdened belly placed her trembling hands; 1380
the archer of the winds sighed deeply, and sped on:
“To keep your son from stifling, maid, I’d lift the lowering sky!”
He crossed the town gate hurriedly, pierced through the woods,
then raised his eyes and searched the sky with raging glance
as though a hunter had from ambush flushed his quarry. 1385
“Each soul in its own station may save the entire war;
I’ll stand here in my body’s tower and fight with rage!”
But as the proud oath still rang in the warrior’s brain,
a ro
ar burst from the earth’s foundations, the woods shook,
until the headstrong archer raised his fist and yelled: 1390
“What are you bellowing for? Who do you think you’re scaring?
Rise up, smash in my skull, spill on the steaming stones
this stubborn brain that made you God! Heave up your wrath!
If it were not for me—don’t you forget it, fool—
the black ants, beasts, and snakes would have devoured you whole! 1395
Rains would have fallen, rank weeds clutched and drowned you deep
in your mud-cradle even before you raised your head!
Now that I’ve saved and bred you like a lion, you dolt,
you open your mouth to eat me, O ungrateful wretch!”
The lone man yelled and thick smoke rolled above his head. 1400
He lay down in the breathless woods: not a beast stirred,
the shriveled tree leaves curled and coiled in the dead hush,
his fingertips itched as with ants, his lips flashed flame,
the storm still plunged from far away and pricked his flesh,
both town and lake shore flickered in the lightning’s lunge 1405
like a black ship submerged and swiped by savage storms.
Then as his mind heaved in his skull like the tossed town,
he heard the heavy tread of feet, hot gasping breath,
turned swiftly and saw tusks that gleamed in lightning flares
till a white elephant plunged in moonlight, drenched in sweat. 1410
On its rough nape a strapping man seemed to lie stretched,
and in a lightning’s flash the archer saw a long-loved head:
he dashed, and the whole forest shook with his loud roar:
“Aye, Rocky, faithful lion, you’ve come in a good hour!”
The elephant stopped and blared, then cocked its flapping ears, 1415
and Rocky fell down mutely on the archer’s chest.
They flung their arms out wide and clasped each other tight
and when their joy was sated and their heads had cleared,
the eagle-battling mountain lad turned round and gasped:
“Master, I’ve run all day and night through woods and wilds, 1420
nor closed my eyes, nor do I think I ate or drank,
that I might come in time to stand close by your side.
Prophetic phantoms struck me, my heart deeply roared
that on a sword’s sharp edge you lay in deadly peril.
I’ve come to fight here at your side! We’ll die together!” 1425
The suffering man was touched, for he had never known
such pure integrity, such manliness, such love;
ah, when it turned out well, how good man’s seed could be!
Odysseus clasped the curly and unconquered head
in tight embrace and stroked it long with silent love; 1430
but hearing a deep sigh behind them, they jumped back
and saw that the groaning elephant had stretched full length
on the soft ground and dug a deep pit with its tusks.
It smelled the earth and growled, then thrust its wrinkled head
slowly into the pit with heaving gasps and groans. 1435
Poor Rocky fell upon the beast, clung to its neck,
caressed it tenderly and spoke soft, calming words,
but its hide quivered, its eyes glazed, and its long ears
hung loosely down its bald-smooth back till all at once
it spouted water from its trunk so that the pit 1440
became a grave of mud where the white grandfather lay
and, in expiring, slowly smeared his twitching hide,
his white back, monstrous bellies, and huge rump with mud;
slowly he settled, huddling in the pit, and sank.
Rocky caressed the huge grandfather, and burst in tears, 1445
his hands and chest were smirched with mud, the grandson’s face
rolled in the grave’s foul mire, smeared with smutty death.
Odysseus watched his friend’s young form and shook with rage
to feel that earth and worms already had stuffed his mouth.
“Never shall I forgive and bend down to that vain, 1450
that senseless dark which blots the holy light of man!”
Then he thrashed out with rage against his ruthless god:
“You fool, how in your greatest need can you abandon
most glorious man who lives and fights to give you shape?
You fill our hearts with cries and vehement desires, 1455
then sink your ears in silence and refuse to listen;
but man’s soul will fight on, you coward, without your help!”
His heart leapt high, spurned Death, and in the black air cut
a thousand roads to fly through on a thousand wings,
then, screeching like a hawk, strove to unwind what fate had woven. 1460
XVI
Three birds perched high on the day-sentry’s castle tower,
one gazed far off to sea, another at the far fields,
the third and best leapt down into the bowels of man,
fluttered its crimson wings and raised its swelling throat:
“I’m not a crow that hunts for corpses on the plains, 5
nor a white gull that dips in the sea’s waves to cool—
I am that bird who sings within a cage of flames!
Some call me God, some the great seed of crafty man,
the pallid call me Bird of Death, and their souls quake,
but I’m that still uncaught and burning bird, your heart.” 10
Thus did the small bird sing on the day-sentry’s tower;
bulls in their caverns heard and champed to break their ropes,
two camels tightly pressed their young and licked their throats,
parrots took wing, rats screeched and scurried up the slopes
to the high eagle-crags and thrust deep in the stones, 15
newts, lizards, scorpions, hedgehogs, huddled on the ground,
gathered their brood and goods and suddenly disappeared.
Only the herds of men were deaf, for the bird’s song
could not pierce through the thick-skinned shield of their soft brains;
the young men buckled on their arms, girls combed their hair, 20
mothers, who’d given birth to sons, adorned their breasts,
for so the day decreed; all wreathed their throats with flowers
and set off for God’s cave, their mammoth dancing ring.
When day broke and the sun-cock rose on the world’s peak
and Aphrodite’s star dissolved in dawn’s light gently, 25
Odysseus grasped the mask of his god, Monarch of Men,
and tried within the cave to lash it round his head,
but it leapt like a savage bird and tried to flee.
The seven-souled man lashed it tightly thrice with thongs,
staggered, grabbed at a rock, and both his temples roared 30
as though an eagle dug its claws deep in his brains:
“Is this the day to eat me, fool, on your feast day?”
the suffering man yelled out, and bit his lips with rage.
A small bird heard, and sang high on the sentry tower;
never before had he heard such sweet birdsong soar, 35
as though the heart of man looked on his town, and wept.
At the cave’s mouth, with dread suspicion, the archer cocked
his ears and heard a far sweet wail, a mocking laugh,
and the air whistled as though brushwood had caught fire:
“Keep quiet, my heart! I know, but hold on tight! Don’t shout!” 40
Thus he advised his lion heart, but his limbs trembled.
Meanwhile the youths, lovely as girls, came swaggering up,
the young maids walked with swaying hips, alluringly,
and Kentaur’s gold canary-cloak
gleamed like the sun.
In the cave’s darkness the two slender mountain lads 45
shone arm in arm, and Granite fondled his dear friend,
unslaked still with the sweetness of unhoped return.
The sun, mud-splattered, sank and drowned in murky fog,
dogs in the courtyards howled, and waves far off were heard
seething on the lake’s surface, though in windless calm. 50
On the hot hearthstones seven votive lambs were roasted,
youths shouted for their god to come and stroll through town,
and the young girls whirled into dance till the cave flashed;
teeth gleamed, and serpent eyes bewitched the enchanted crowd,
songs leapt from mouth to mouth, caught fire and burst in blaze: 55
“Mother, I love the sun, earth’s fragrance drives me mad!
What pride the mountains hold, dear God! They don’t fear death!
What pride the unmarried hold who clasp a son in mind,
what pride the new-weds hold who clutch babes to their breasts!
Descend, male God, and in my lap I’ll fetch you soon 60
red apples, crimson rose-tree blooms to make you blush;61
I’ll bring you a small cradle, also, to rock your son.
The blue sky’s good, but not so lovely as the earth
that does contain both man and God, both beasts and trees,
and even my most small, most secretly pregnant heart. 65
Mother, I love the earth, I even love its pain!”
The young men leapt and danced apart in hoarse reply:
“Good is this earth, and good your apples, glittering girls!68
We hold for you red curled carnations—come and see!—
large flasks of poison and black-hilted blades of love. 70
Come now, let’s merge our wealth, let’s barter merchandise;
earth is a gaudy fair, give me and I shall give you!”
The two wild dances merged, the dancers held hands tight,
and the young men’s mustaches flicked the maidens’ hair:
“Welcome to earth, come eat and kiss and drink, dear God!” 75
Then all fell silent and stooped low for his reply
and heard a bellowing roar that made the cavern reel;
but even before thought could break in and cleave their hearts
the lone man leapt from the thick shade with his god’s mask:
“I’ve come and find you well on earth! I like your town! 80
I like the bulls you’ve sacrificed, I like your maids
and your lean youths who hold the earth so it won’t fall.
Your earth has sprouted in my heart and spread wide roots,