At last obedient doth Allat speak: "Go, Namtar! and the iron palace strike! O'er Asherim[1] adorned let the dawn break! And seat the spirits on their thrones of gold! Let Ishtar Life's bright waters then behold, And drink her fill, and bring her then to me; From her imprisonment, I send her free." And Namtar then goes through the palace walls, And flings the light through all the darkened halls, And places all the spirits on their thrones, Leads Ishtar to the waters near the cones. She drinks the sparkling water now with joy, Which all her form doth cleanse and purify. And he at the first gate her robe returns, And leads her through the second; where he turns, And gives her bracelets back;--thus at each door Returns to her her girdle, gems; then o'er Her queenly brow he placed her shining crown. With all her ornaments that were her own, She stands with pride before the seventh gate, And Namtar bows to her in solemn state:
"Thou hast no ransom to our queen here paid For thy deliverance, yet thou hast said Thy Tammuz thou didst seek within our walls, Turn back! and thou wilt find him in these halls. To bring him back to life the waters pour Upon him; they thy Tammuz will restore; With robes thou mayst adorn him and a crown Of jewels, and thy maid with thee alone Shall give thee comfort and appease thy grief. Kharimtu, Samkha come to thy relief!"
Now Ishtar lifts her eyes within a room Prepared for her, and sees her maidens come, Before a weird procession wrapped in palls, That soundless glide within and fills the halls. Before her now they place a sable bier Beside the fount; and Ishtar, drawing near, Raised the white pall from Tammuz's perfect form. The clay unconscious, had that mystic charm Of Beauty sleeping sweetly on his face,-- Of agony or sorrow left no trace: But, oh! that awful wound of death was there With its deep mark;--the wound, and not the scar.
When Ishtar's eyes beheld it, all her grief Broke forth afresh, refusing all relief; She smote her breast in woe, and moaning cried, Nor the bright waters to his wound applied: "O Tammuz! Tammuz! turn thine eyes on me! Thy queen thou didst adorn, before thee see! Behold the emeralds and diamond crown Thou gavest me when I became thine own! Alas! he answers not: and must I mourn Forever o'er my love within this bourne? But, oh! the waters from this glowing stream! Perhaps those eyes on me with love will beam, And I shall hear again his song of love. Oh, quickly let these waters to me prove Their claim to banish death with magic power!"