Babylonian and Assyrian Literature

Excerpt

O love, my queen and goddess, come to me;My soul shall never cease to worship thee;Come pillow here thy head upon my breast,And whisper in my lyre thy softest, best.And sweetest melodies of bright Sami,[1]Our Happy Fields[2] above dear Subartu;[3]Come nestle closely with those lips of loveAnd balmy breath, and I with thee shall roveThrough Sari[4] past ere life on earth was known,And Time unconscious sped not, nor had flown.Thou art our all in this impassioned life:How sweetly comes thy presence ending strife,Thou god of peace and Heaven's undying joy,Oh, hast thou ever left one pain or cloyUpon this beauteous world to us so dear?To all mankind thou art their goddess here.To thee we sing, our holiest, fairest god,The One who in that awful chaos trodAnd woke the Elements by Law of LoveTo teeming worlds in harmony to move.From chaos thou hast led us by thy hand,[5]Thus spoke to man upon that budding land:"The Queen of Heaven, of the dawn am I,The goddess of all wide immensity,For thee I open wide the golden gateOf happiness, and for thee love createTo glorify the heavens and fill with joyThe earth, its children with sweet love employ."Thou gavest then the noblest melodyAnd highest bliss—grand nature's harmony.With love the finest particle is rife,And deftly woven in the woof of life,In throbbing dust or clasping grains of sand,In globes of glistening dew that shining standOn each pure petal, Love's own legaciesOf flowering verdure, Earth's sweet panoplies;By love those atoms sip their sweets and passTo other atoms, join and keep the massWith mighty forces moving through all space,Tis thus on earth all life has found its place.Through Kisar,[6] Love came formless through the airIn countless forms behold her everywhere!Oh, could we hear those whispering roses sweet,Three beauties bending till their petals meet,And blushing, mingling their sweet fragrance thereIn language yet unknown to mortal ear.Their whisperings of love from morn till nightWould teach us tenderly to love the right.O Love, here stay! Let chaos not return!With hate each atom would its lover spurnIn air above, on land, or in the sea,O World, undone and lost that loseth thee!For love we briefly come, and pass awayFor other men and maids; thus bring the dayOf love continuous through this glorious life.Oh, hurl away those weapons fierce of strife!We here a moment, point of time but live,Too short is life for throbbing hearts to grieve.Thrice holy is that form that love hath kissed,And happy is that man with heart thus blessed.Oh, let not curses fall upon that headWhom love hath cradled on the welcome bedOf bliss, the bosom of our fairest god,Or hand of love e'er grasp the venging rod.

Oh, come, dear Zir-ri,[7] tune your lyres and lutes,And sing of love with chastest, sweetest notes,Of Accad's goddess Ishtar, Queen of Love,And Izdubar, with softest measure move;Great Samas'[8] son, of him dear Zir-ri sing...!