Perneb
P ERNEB built himself a tomb.
Round the wall go slaves a-row,
Slaves with sidelong red feet slow,
Staring frontward with their eyes,
Bringing Perneb through the gloom
Of his solemn, spicy room
Thousand loaves and joints of meat,
Thousand live gazelles or so,
Thousand trays of figs and wheat.
Following them in a line
Slaves bear out of dim recesses
Perneb's change of thousand dresses.
Perneb has no dearth of wine.
Through the high and breathless air
Red and yellow jars shine bare,
The blue lotus flowers twine
Accurately, in design.
At the centre, large and wise,
Painted Perneb doth arise,
Reviewing his processional,
Counting cattle on the wall
Opposite, each flank appraising.
Perneb with a swelling chest,
Perneb with a chastened waist,
A gold collar interlaced
With the scarab, and a wig,
Holds a folded linen cloth, —
Sole concession to mutations, —
To flap winged insects off.
Sons and wives and poor relations
Kneel before him, under size.
Unless all that's left us lies,
Perneb was a chamberlain
Administering for a king
Who appreciated him.
He arrayed his Memphian king;
He inspected cattle, too, —
Had a priest's job on the side,
When he wore the leopard skin.
Shudderingly thought has tried
To contemplate that land's descent
Down the abyss, when Perneb went.
Where's the eye that made the slaves
Cower in arrested waves?
Where's the hand that flapped at flies,
And kept relations under size?
Where's the will that laid on stone
Shape for twice two thousand years.
By commandment of its own,
That so and not otherwise
The decorous chambers glow
For no reason man can know
Save that Perneb willed it so?
Sands of dusty years have strown
Abu Roash and the south,
Sakkara and Dahsur's drouth.
Twice two thousand years are blown
Harmlessly as yesterday
O'er the walls of Perneb's sway.
In the chamber toward the west
Lies a skull like any skull
Neutral, indisputable, —
Perneb's, — so it may be guessed.
Desert thieves dispersed the rest
From the dwelling clear and fit.
Time's a tactless thing at best.
Perneb got the worst of it.
Round the wall go slaves a-row,
Slaves with sidelong red feet slow,
Staring frontward with their eyes,
Bringing Perneb through the gloom
Of his solemn, spicy room
Thousand loaves and joints of meat,
Thousand live gazelles or so,
Thousand trays of figs and wheat.
Following them in a line
Slaves bear out of dim recesses
Perneb's change of thousand dresses.
Perneb has no dearth of wine.
Through the high and breathless air
Red and yellow jars shine bare,
The blue lotus flowers twine
Accurately, in design.
At the centre, large and wise,
Painted Perneb doth arise,
Reviewing his processional,
Counting cattle on the wall
Opposite, each flank appraising.
Perneb with a swelling chest,
Perneb with a chastened waist,
A gold collar interlaced
With the scarab, and a wig,
Holds a folded linen cloth, —
Sole concession to mutations, —
To flap winged insects off.
Sons and wives and poor relations
Kneel before him, under size.
Unless all that's left us lies,
Perneb was a chamberlain
Administering for a king
Who appreciated him.
He arrayed his Memphian king;
He inspected cattle, too, —
Had a priest's job on the side,
When he wore the leopard skin.
Shudderingly thought has tried
To contemplate that land's descent
Down the abyss, when Perneb went.
Where's the eye that made the slaves
Cower in arrested waves?
Where's the hand that flapped at flies,
And kept relations under size?
Where's the will that laid on stone
Shape for twice two thousand years.
By commandment of its own,
That so and not otherwise
The decorous chambers glow
For no reason man can know
Save that Perneb willed it so?
Sands of dusty years have strown
Abu Roash and the south,
Sakkara and Dahsur's drouth.
Twice two thousand years are blown
Harmlessly as yesterday
O'er the walls of Perneb's sway.
In the chamber toward the west
Lies a skull like any skull
Neutral, indisputable, —
Perneb's, — so it may be guessed.
Desert thieves dispersed the rest
From the dwelling clear and fit.
Time's a tactless thing at best.
Perneb got the worst of it.
Translation:
Language:
Reviews
No reviews yet.