Aholibah

    In the beginning God made thee     A woman well to look upon,     Thy tender body as a tree     Whereon cool wind hath always blown     Till the clean branches be well grown.     There was none like thee in the land;     The girls that were thy bondwomen     Did bind thee with a purple band     Upon thy forehead, that all men     Should know thee for Gods handmaiden.     Strange raiment clad thee like a bride,     With silk to wear on hands and feet     And plates of gold on either side:     Wine made thee glad, and thou didst eat     Honey, and choice of pleasant meat.     And fishers in the middle sea     Did get thee sea-fish and sea-weeds     In colour like the robes on thee;     And curious work of plaited reeds,     And wools wherein live purple bleeds.     And round the edges of thy cup     Men wrought thee marvels out of gold,     Strong snakes with lean throats lifted up,     Large eyes whereon the brows had hold,     And scaly things their slime kept cold.     For thee they blew soft wind in flutes     And ground sweet roots for cunning scent;     Made slow because of many lutes,     The wind among thy chambers went     Wherein no light was violent.     God called thy name Aholibah,     His tabernacle being in thee,     A witness through waste Asia;     Thou wert a tent sewn cunningly     With gold and colours of the sea.     God gave thee gracious ministers     And all their work who plait and weave:     The cunning of embroiderers     That sew the pillow to the sleeve,     And likeness of all things that live.     Thy garments upon thee were fair     With scarlet and with yellow thread;     Also the weaving of thine hair     Was as fine gold upon thy head,     And thy silk shoes were sewn with red.     All sweet things he bade sift, and ground     As a man grindeth wheat in mills     With strong wheels alway going round;     He gave thee corn, and grass that fills     The cattle on a thousand hills.     The wine of many seasons fed     Thy mouth, and made it fair and clean;     Sweet oil was poured out on thy head     And ran down like cool rain between     The strait close locks it melted in.     The strong men and the captains knew     Thy chambers wrought and fashioned     With gold and covering of blue,     And the blue raiment of thine head     Who satest on a stately bed.     All these had on their garments wrought     The shape of beasts and creeping things,     The body that availeth not,     Flat backs of worms and veind wings,     And the lewd bulk that sleeps and stings.     Also the chosen of the years,     The multitude being at ease,     With sackbuts and with dulcimers     And noise of shawms and psalteries     Made mirth within the ears of these.     But as a common woman doth,     Thou didst think evil and devise;     The sweet smell of thy breast and mouth     Thou madest as the harlots wise,     And there was painting on thine eyes.     Yea, in the woven guest-chamber     And by the painted passages     Where the strange gracious paintings were,     State upon state of companies,     There came on thee the lust of these.     Because of shapes on either wall     Sea-coloured from some rare blue shell     At many a Tyrian interval,     Horsemen on horses, girdled well,     Delicate and desirable,     Thou saidest: I am sick of love:     Stay me with flagons, comfort me     With apples for my pain thereof     Till my hands gather in his tree     That fruit wherein my lips would be.     Yea, saidest thou, I will go up     When there is no more shade than one     May cover with a hollow cup,     And make my bed against the sun     Till my bloods violence be done.     Thy mouth was leant upon the wall     Against the painted mouth, thy chin     Touched the hairs painted curve and fall;     Thy deep throat, fallen lax and thin,     Worked as the bloods beat worked therein.     Therefore, O thou Aholibah,     God is not glad because of thee;     And thy fine gold shall pass away     Like those fair coins of ore that be     Washed over by the middle sea.     Then will one make thy body bare     To strip it of all gracious things,     And pluck the cover from thine hair,     And break the gift of many kings,     Thy wrist-rings and thine ankle-rings.     Likewise the man whose body joins     To thy smooth body, as was said,     Who hath a girdle on his loins     And dyed attire upon his head     The same who, seeing, worshipped,     Because thy face was like the face     Of a clean maiden that smells sweet,     Because thy gait was as the pace     Of one that opens not her feet     And is not heard within the street     Even he, O thou Aholibah,     Made separate from thy desire,     Shall cut thy nose and ears away     And bruise thee for thy bodys hire     And burn the residue with fire.     Then shall the heathen people say,     The multitude being at ease;     Lo, this is that Aholibah     Whose name was blown among strange seas,     Grown old with soft adulteries.     Also her bed was made of green,     Her windows beautiful for glass     That she had made her bed between:     Yea, for pure lust her body was     Made like white summer-coloured grass.     Her raiment was a strong mans spoil;     Upon a table by a bed     She set mine incense and mine oil     To be the beauty of her head     In chambers walled about with red.     Also between the walls she had     Fair faces of strong men portrayed;     All girded round the loins, and clad     With several cloths of woven braid     And garments marvellously made.     Therefore the wrath of God shall be     Set as a watch upon her way;     And whoso findeth by the sea     Blown dust of bones will hardly say     If this were that Aholibah.