The Complete Old English Poems

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The Complete Old English Poems Page 14

by Craig Williamson


  Against betrayal, a breach of trust,

  And the resulting torment, a terrible loss.

  Now hunger and thirst gnaw at my heart. 885

  Care and discomfort have entered Eden.

  How will we survive when the savage wind

  Blows from west or east, south or north?

  Storm-clouds will come, hail from heaven—

  Frost will follow us, snow stalk us, 890

  An evil cold come creeping over us.

  Sometimes the savage sun will blast

  Our frail bodies, scorching our skin

  As we walk naked, exposed to the elements.

  We’ve no free food, no sweet sustenance, 895

  No shield from the storm, no safe shelter

  From God’s righteous wrath, his punishing rage.

  How can we survive? Now I sorely regret

  Requesting God to make me a helpmate,

  Raising you up out of my own rib bone, 900

  For you have led me astray into hateful sin,

  My heart’s shame, and my Lord’s loathing.

  I regret that I ever laid eyes on you.”

  Then Eve replied, the loveliest of women,

  Fairest of wives—still the handiwork of God, 905

  Even though ruined by the devious devil—

  Lamenting her loss of the Lord’s trust:

  “You are right to reproach me with hard words,

  My lord and husband, yet the gall in your mind

  Cannot be greater than the grief in my heart.” 910

  Then Adam was downcast and answered Eve:

  “If I knew God’s will, perceived his punishment,

  You would see no hesitation in my heart,

  No doubt in my mind. If God commanded me

  To endure the ocean, sail blindly away 915

  On the dangerous waves, I would never flinch,

  But rush to a ship, risk sinking down

  To the sea-bottom and entering the abyss

  To accomplish his will. Now grace is gone,

  Bliss is abandoned. I have lost my precious 920

  Service to the Lord. There’s no joy in paradise.

  We can’t stand here naked forever,

  Baring our bodies for anyone to see.

  We failed God. Let’s head for the forest,

  Seeking a hideout in the wild wood.” 925

  So the two sad sinners turned away

  From their happy home, walking in woe

  Into the green forest where they sat in sorrow,

  Apart from paradise, awaiting their punishment,

  Afraid of the pain that promised to come 930

  Because they had broken their Lord’s command,

  Losing the gifts bestowed by God.

  Then Adam and Eve were sorely ashamed

  Of their bare bodies, covering themselves

  With torn ferns and fallen leaves. 935

  They owned nothing to wear in shame—

  They had no clothes. They bowed down together,

  Prostrated in prayer, begging each morning

  That God might come, that their almighty Father

  Would not forget them, but finding them in the wild, 940

  Would show them how to survive in the world,

  Living in the light after their loss of paradise.

  Genesis A (continued)

  Then almighty God, the glorious Prince,

  Came into paradise in the middle of the day

  For a leisurely stroll. Our Lord and Savior, 945

  Our merciful Father, walked into Eden,

  Wanting to check on his beloved children.

  He knew they had eaten the forbidden fruit—

  Their glory was gone, their innocence undone.

  They scurried away, deprived of their dignity, 950

  To hide in the tree-shadows, torn and tormented

  By their shameful act, shaking with fear.

  They huddled in the gloom, hearing God’s voice.

  The Lord of heaven summoned his servant,

  Keeper of each of the creatures in paradise. 955

  God called to Adam, his abject son,

  Who came naked to greet him, saying:

  “Here I am, Life-lord, hiding in the wild,

  For I have no clothes to cover the shame

  Of my bare body so I’m dressed in leaves. 960

  My thoughts are dark—my conscience torments me.

  I’m scathed by sin and dreading doom,

  Standing here stark naked before my Lord.”

  God immediately answered Adam:

  “Tell me, my son, why do you seek 965

  These shadows in shame, this hopeless hideout?

  I left you and Eve unembarrassed in Eden,

  Your beautiful spirits bright with grace.

  Why do you cover your body with leaves,

  Inviting misery into your innocent mind 970

  Unless you have tasted the forbidden fruit,

  Eating the apple I forbade you to touch?”

  Then Adam answered his guardian Lord:

  “This beautiful woman, this beloved bride,

  Offered me the fruit, hand to mouth, 975

  Which I accepted in trust, betraying your word.

  Now I am marked within and without

  By a sense of sin. My world is woe.”

  Then almighty God questioned Eve:

  “Tell me, my daughter, having touched the tree 980

  And tasted its fruit, what have you learned

  From this sinful way of seeing the world

  And being ashamed of yourself in Eden?

  What did it profit you to be free in paradise

  Only to grasp the apple, taste bitter fruit, 985

  Devouring death in spite of my warning,

  My counsel and command? Can you grasp

  Its meaning, its unmaking? Does it twist your being

  From blessing to bale, from bliss to bane?

  Why did you offer Adam the apple to eat?” 990

  Then Eve, the loveliest of women, was ashamed

  As she listened to her lord and answered back:

  “The serpent tricked me, that gaudy devil,

  That devious snake, stalking me always

  With his twisted tongue and tempting words 995

  To grab that fruit, taste its sweetness,

  Gobble it up, swallowing sin,

  Until I snatched it like a shameless thief

  Against your will and wolfed it down.

  I admit I ate the apple. It was not right.” 1000

  Then our Savior, the almighty Lord,

  Said to the snake, the guilty serpent:

  “Now you shall wander the face of the earth,

  Crawling through creation on your bare belly,

  Footless, speechless, heartless, and hated 1005

  By all of mankind. You shall eat dirt

  All the days of your life for this loathsome deed.

  The woman will despise you for dishing out discord

  And tread on your unholy head with her heel.

  You will lie in wait to wound her foot 1010

  With your vile, venomous forked tongue.

  The feud between you two will last forever,

  Marking and murdering your children’s children.

  Your seeds will never be safe from strife

  As long as the earth exists. Now you know, 1015

  Evil enemy of man, what your life will be like.”

  In his righteous wrath, God spoke to Eve:

  “Depart from Eden. Turn your back on bliss.

  You shall now serve this man, be under his rule,

  In awe of his authority, in fear of his force. 1020

  You will suffer for your sin, atone for your evil,

  Experience death, bear sons and daughters

  In pain and sorrow in this world of woe.”

  Then the eternal Lord spoke again to Adam—

&nbs
p; The Source of light had a dark message: 1025

  “Seek another homeland outside of Eden,

  A house of unhappiness on sorrow’s road,

  As a naked outcast, wandering in exile,

  Deprived of all the pleasures of paradise.

  Your soul and body are bound to be separated, 1030

  For the wages of sin are suffering and death.

  You shall live by your labor, tilling the land,

  Eating what you grow in the good earth,

  Earning your bread by the sweat of your brow

  Until that dreaded disease called death, 1035

  That inescapable illness you ate in the apple,

  Worms its dark way through your decadent body,

  Clutching your heart in a grim death-hold.”

  Listen, as we hear how endless affliction

  And mortal misery became the lot of mankind. 1040

  The Guardian of glory, our Lord and Creator,

  Dressed the couple in clothes, covering their bodies,

  Concealing their shame—then commanded them

  To depart from paradise to discover a life

  Constrained by need. At the Lord’s authority, 1045

  An angel followed with a sword of fire,

  Closing the gates of their joy-filled home,

  Their place in paradise of peace and pleasure.

  No man or woman who is guilty of sin

  Can pass through those gates. God’s guardian angel 1050

  Patrols that pathway, protecting paradise,

  A powerful warden who stands before

  The doors of glory, the life of bliss.

  Yet almighty God never intended

  To withdraw all favor from Adam and Eve, 1055

  Withholding the care and comfort of creation,

  Even though they had rebelled against him.

  Instead he left the heavenly roof

  Studded with holy stars and the day-sun’s

  Sustaining light, the bright sky-candle. 1060

  He ordered the earth and sea to produce

  Meat and fruit to sustain the couple

  In their worldly needs. After their sin

  They lived in a land less abounding than Eden,

  A country of care, a world of woe. 1065

  They regretted their sin, reliving their shame.

  Then at God’s command they produced children,

  Cain and Abel, two noble sons.

  Books tell us how those willing brothers

  Toiled each day, tilling and herding, 1070

  Amassing a wealth of grain and goods.

  The firstborn, Cain, farmed the land.

  The second, Abel, helped his father herd

  The family flocks. At harvest time,

  They both brought offerings to the Lord. 1075

  Abel offered the best beast he had,

  While Cain gave the worst grain to God.

  The Prince of angels, the King of creation,

  Looked down kindly on Abel’s sacrifice

  But wouldn’t consider the chaff of Cain. 1080

  Anger and envy entered Cain’s heart.

  He thought he had been insulted by God.

  He hated his brother. His rage rose up,

  His hand struck down, killing his kin,

  The innocent Abel. That was unwise. 1085

  Then middle-earth swallowed the bitter gore

  Of brotherly blood. After that death-stroke

  More evil arose, a progeny of crime.

  From that branch grew abominable fruit

  On tenacious vines twisting the hearts 1090

  Of the children of men. Feuds flourished,

  Murders multiplied, grief grew wild.

  Mankind may well lament this history

  Of willful sin and wicked slaying.

  Ruin was forever rampant on earth 1095

  After Eve injured all of mankind

  With her evil sin after Adam was awakened

  By the quickening breath from the Shaper’s mouth,

  And they tasted that baleful, forbidden fruit.

  Then the Lord of glory approached Cain, 1100

  Asking where on earth his brother Abel

  Might be found. The worthless murder-maker,

  Sin-shaper, devised this devious reply:

  “Am I my brother Abel’s keeper?

  How can I know his comings and goings? 1105

  How can I keep track of my kinsman’s journey?”

  Then the Prince of angels, the righteous Ruler,

  Almighty God, spoke again to Abel:

  “Why did you strike down your own kin

  With a heart of rage and hands of wrath, 1110

  Bury your brother in a slaughter-bed?

  You have savagely killed my faithful servant,

  And his blood cries out in anguish to me.

  For this murderous deed you shall suffer

  Pain and punishment, exile and agony, 1115

  Endlessly cursed without recourse.

  The earth will not offer you fruit or grain,

  Bountiful gifts to sustain your needs,

  Because you have bloodied her growing-ground

  With violent hands. For this cold killing 1120

  You must leave the country, flee from your family,

  Wander in exile without kith or kin,

  Deprived of grace, abhorrent to everyone.”

  Then Cain answered his Creator and Judge:

  “I expect no pity, no mercy from my Maker. 1125

  I have forfeited your favor, compassion, and care.

  Now my feet must wander a woeful road.

  I can expect only enmity from everyone

  Who will endlessly hate me and remind me

  With cruel hostility of my own crime. 1130

  I murdered my brother, shedding his blood

  On the innocent earth. Now banish me

  From both my family and my fair homeland.

  This feud is fixed. A killer will come

  To murder me also. Cursed by my crime, 1135

  My unholy sin, I will pass out of sight.”

  The Lord of virtue and victory responded:

  “There’s no easy exit for your endless suffering,

  No early death for a brother-destroyer.

  You’ll be a marked man, not easily murdered. 1140

  If anyone slays you, he will soon find

  Sevenfold vengeance upon his head.”

  Then the glorious Creator set a peace-sign,

  A mark of immunity, on that killer Cain,

  Lest some other assassin should ease his pain, 1145

  Steal his suffering, unwind his woe.

  The Lord ordered that unholy brother

  To depart from his mother, his kith and kin.

  Then Cain walked away from the sight of God,

  Condemned to wander an exile’s road, 1150

  An outcast and outlaw without friends and family.

  He went east to live far from his father,

  Where a beautiful woman bore heirs for him.

  His firstborn son was named Enoch.

  The family built a great stronghold, 1155

  The first fortified city of sword-wielding men.

  Then the generations after Enoch arose—

  His firstborn son was named Jarad.

  This was the beginning of the race of Cain.

  After Jarad, Mahalalel was keeper 1160

  Of his father’s inheritance until he died.

  Then his son Methuselah kept control,

  Sharing the family treasure with his kin,

  Son after son, until old and wise

  In accumulated years, he passed away. 1165

  His son Lamech became the new lord,

  Took the family hoard and household goods.

  His two wives, Adah and Zillah,

  Bore him heirs in his homeland.

  One of Lamech’s sons was called Jabal, 
1170

  Who first awoke the sounds of the harp

  With his cunning hands, making melody.

  Another son of Lamech called Tubal-Cain

  Was a master-smith, the first of his kind

  To shape farm implements of iron and brass, 1175

  Endlessly useful to the children of men.

  His craft was cunning, his skill unsurpassed.

  Lamech once told his two wives,

  Adah and Zillah, a miserable story

  Of family murder, confessing his crime: 1180

  “I murdered a man, an ancient relative,

  By killing Cain. He was my kin,

  The son of Adam, father of Enoch,

  Slayer of Abel. I stained my hands

  And my brooding heart with this bloody crime. 1185

  I watered the ground with his red gore.

  I know I will suffer God’s sevenfold vengeance

  For this kin-killing when I pass on.”

  A righteous son was born to Adam

  In Abel’s stead—his name was Seth. 1190

  He was prosperous and blessed, a true comfort

  To his father and mother, Adam and Eve.

  His father, the first of men, said prayerfully:

  “The God of victories, the Lord of life,

  Has offered me another beloved son 1195

  To replace the boy that Cain killed.

  Now my mind is free from mourning,

  The sore grief in my heart is gone.

  I give God thanks for this precious gift.”

  So Adam’s line was brought to life again 1200

  When he had lived one hundred thirty years.

  Writings tell us that he increased his family

  With sons and daughters for eight hundred years

  And lived to be nine hundred thirty,

  When his spirit parted from this earthly life. 1205

  Then his son Seth succeeded Adam.

  He ruled his father’s realm and took a wife.

  He was one hundred five when he first began

  To produce heirs. His eldest son,

  Enosh, was the first of the children of men 1210

  To call on the hallowed name of God

  Since Adam walked on the green grass

  Of paradise, endowed with a living soul.

  Seth prospered, begetting sons and daughters

  For eight hundred seven years until he died. 1215

  After the earth had swallowed up the body

  Of the seed-bearing Seth, Enosh held the inheritance.

  He was dear to the Lord and lived ninety years

  Before he began to bear children with his wife

  Through bed-play, that is married intercourse. 1220

  To him Kenan was born, heir of the realm.

  After that he lived eight hundred fifteen years,

  Begetting many sons and daughters before he died

  At the ripe old age of nine hundred five.

  He was a wise and ancient patriarch. 1225

 

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