Lilywhite Lilith
1974

The chamber was in confusion - all the voices shouting loud
I could only just hear a voice quite near say
'Please help me through the crowd'.
'Said if I helped her thru' she could help me too,
But I could see that she was wholly blind.
But from her pale face and her pale skin,
a moonlight shined.


Lilywhite Lilith,
She's gonna take you thru' the tunnel of night.
Lilywhite Lilith,
She gonna lead you right
When I'd led her through the people, the angry noise began to grow.

She said 'Let me feel the way the breezes blow
and I'll show you where to go'.
So I followed her into a big round cave, she said
'They're coming for you, now don't be afraid'.
Then she sat me down on a cold stone throne,carved in jade.

Lilywhite Lilith,
She's gonna take you thru' the tunnel of night.
Lilywhite Lilith,
She gonna lead you right
She leaves me in my darkness,
I have to face my fear,
And the darkness closes in on me,
I can hear a whirring sound growing near.
I can see the corner of tunnel,
Lit up by whatever's coming here.
Two golden globes float into the room
And a blaze of white light fills the air.


Conjuration to Lilith

Words by Susanna Melendez and Michael Laird // Music by Michael Laird

In the shadow she stares
Escaping the world
In a moment's span
Comes the severed glare

Blackened hair tangled
The web of young girls
In her claws she caresses
Necks soon to be strangled

Oh merry meet, merry meet...

Lilith whose fall haunts my mind...
Lady of Beasts, Lady of Beasts...
Lady of Beasts, Lady of Beasts...

The Lady of Beasts
Has risen again
Oh motherless one
The dark world opens

To draw us into
The power we possess
Hail the flight
Of the first sorceress

Oh merry meet, merry meet...


The translation is from

Kramer38:1f

This passage, as understood and translated by Samuel Kramer, would include the oldest known reference to Lilith. See the Sumerian Mythology FAQ (from which this is pirated) for a fuller discussion. I have included the larger context with the specific appearances fo Lilith in bold.

After heaven and earth had been separated
and mankind had been created,
after Anûum, Enlil and Ereskigal had taken posesssion
of heaven, earth and the underworld;
after Enki had set sail for the underworld
and the sea ebbed and flowed in honor of its lord;
on this day, a huluppu tree
which had been planted on the banks of the Euphrates
and nourished by its waters
was uprooted by the south wind
and carried away by the Euphrates.

A Goddess who was wandering among the banks
siezed the swaying tree
And -- at the behest of Anu and Enlil --
brought it to Inanna's garden in Uruk.
Inanna tended the tree carefully and lovingly
she hoped to have a throne and a bed
made for herself from its wood.

After ten years, the tree had matured.
But in the meantime, she found to her dismay
that her hopes could not be fulfilled.
because during that time
a dragon had built its nest at the foot of the tree
the Zu-bird was raising its young in the crown,
and the demon Lilith had built her house in the middle.[1]

But Gilgamesh, who had heard of Inanna's plight,
came to her rescue.
He took his heavy shield
killed the dragon with his heavy bronze axe,
which weighed seven talents and seven minas.
Then the Zu-bird flew into the mountains
with its young,
while Lilith, petrified with fear,
tore down her house and fled into the wilderness.

Notes
[1] In a subsequent translation with Wolkstein, this passage is given as:
...a serpent who could not be charmed
made its nest in the roots of the tree,
The Anzu bird set his young in the branches of the tree,
And the dark maid Lilith built her home in the trunk.
(Wolkstein83: p. 8)

Isaiah 34:14f

Direct or Possible Biblical References
Wildcats shall meet with hyenas,
goat-demons shall call to each other;
there too Lilith shall repose,
and find a place to rest.
There shall the owl nest
and lay and hatch and brood in its shadow


Wildcats shall meet with hyenas,
goat-demons shall call to each other;
there too Lilith shall repose,
and find a place to rest.
There shall the owl nest
and lay and hatch and brood in its shadow.

/Isaiah 34 14-15 /

- Sumerian song to the goddess

At dawn, you brighten the day.
At evening, you are radiant.
At noon, you stand majestic,
and strong, and brilliant.
You are more lovely
than the sun and moon
shining in the sky together.


You are the priestess of heaven,
whose wonders are sung
by those above and those below.
To you, Inanna, we sing!

Lilith in the Dead Sea Scrolls

4QSongs of the Sage / 4QShir
4Q510 frag. 11.4-6a // frag. 10.1f

This passage is clearly based on Isaiah 34:14. There are two points of interest to us. The first is that the context makes it clear that the community that produced this saw the Isaiah passage as referring to the demonic rather than just desert animals (see the discussion on the meaning of the Isaiah passage). Second, if Martinez's translation is accurate (I have not yet looked at the plates), we have 'liliths' in the plural, rather than MT Isaiah's singular. Does the author have a different Isaiah reading with the plural, or is this just poetic license?
The translation is that of Florentino Garcia Martinez. The note(s) are mine.


And I, the Sage,
declare the grandeur of his radiance
in order to frighten and terrify
all the spirits of the ravaging angels
and the bastard spirits,
demons, Liliths, owls and [jackals...]
and those who strike unexpectedly
to lead astray the spirit of knowledge...


Lilith Exorcized on a Persian Bowl
You are bound and sealed,
all you demons and devils and liliths,
by that hard and strong,
mighty and powerful bond with which are tied Sison and Sisin....

The evil Lilith,
who causes the hearts of men to go astray
and appears in the dream of the night
and in the vision of hte day,
Who burns and casts down with nightmare,
attacks and kills children,
boys an girls.


She is conquered and sealed
away from the house
and from the threshold of Bahram-Gushnasp son of Ishtar-Nahid
by the talisman of Metatron,
the great prince
who is called the Great Healer of Mercy....
who vanquishes demons and devils,
black arts and mighty spells
and keeps them away from the house
and threshold of Bahram-Gushnasp, son of Ishtar-Nahid.
Amen, Amen, Selah.

Vanquished are the black arts and mighty spells.
Vanquished the bewitching women,
they, their witchery and their spells,
their curses and their invocations,
and kept away from the four walls
of the house of Bahram-Gushnasp, the son of Ishtar-Hahid.
Vanquished and trampled down are the bewitching women --
vanquished on earth and vanquished in heaven.

Vanquished are their constellations and stars.
Bound are the works of their hands.
Amen, Amen, Selah.



(Patai78:228f)
Lilith gets Divorced


This is the get for a demon and spirits and Satan
...and Lilith in order to banish them from... the entire house.
Yah ...cut off the king of the demons
...the great ruler of the liliths.
I adjure you ...whether you are male or female,
I adjure you....
Just as the demons write letters of divorce
and give them to their wives and do not again return to them,
so take your letter of divorce,
accept your stipend share [ketubba],
and go and leave and depart from the house....
Amen, Amen, Amen, Selah.

(Patai78:226f)

Lilith Divorced Again

(University Museum, University of Pennsylvania)

In the name of the Lord of salvations.
Designated is this bowl
for the sealing of the house of this
Geyonai bar Mamai,
that there flee from him the evil Lilith,
in the name of "YHWH-El has scattered";
the Lilith,
the male lilin,
the female liliths,
the Hag [ghost?],
and the Snatcher,
the three of you,
the four of you
and the five of you.

Naked are you sent forth,
nor are you clad,
with your hair dishevelled
and let fly behind your backs.
It is made known to you,
whose father is named Palhas
and whose mother is Pelahdad:
Hear and obey
and come from from the house and dwelling of this
Geyonai bar Mamai,
and from Rashnoi his wife,
the daughter of Marath.

...Be informed herewith
that Rabbi Joshua bar Perahia
has sent the ban against you....
A divorce-writ [gita] has come down to us from Heaven,
and therein is found written
your advisement and your intimidation,
in the name of Palsa-Pelisa ["Divorcer-Divorced"],
who renders to thee thy divorce and thy separation,
your divorces and your separations.

Thou, Lilith, male lili and female lilith, Hag and Snatcher,
be under the ban...of Joshua bar Perahia,
who has thus spoken:
A divorce-writ has come for you
from across the sea....
Hear it and depart from
the house and dwelling of this
Geyonai bar Mamai,
and from Rashnoi his wife,
the daughter of Marath.

You shall not again appear to them,
either in a deram by night
or in slumber by day,
because you are sealed with the signet fo El-Shaddai,
and with the signet of the house of Joshua bar Perahia
and by the Seven who are before him.

Thou, Lilith, male lili and female lilith, Hag and Snatcher,
I adjuire you
by the Strong One of Abbraham,
by the Rock of Isaac,
by the Shaddai of Jacob,
by Yah [is] his name...,
by Yah his memorial...
I adjure you to turn away from this
Geyonai bar Mamai,
and from Rashnoi his wife,
the daughter of Marath.

Your divorce and writ and letter of separation...
sent through holy angels...
the Hosts of fire in the spheres,
the Chariots of El-Panim before him standing,
the beasts worshipping in the fire of his throne
and in the water... Amen, Amen, Selah, Halleluyah!


(Patai78:225f)

Lilith

When I last had a man
I lost him in the infinite blackness of my hair
he was holding on
grasping with his greedy hands
when he disappeared
somewhere around my vast hips
I had sung my siren-song
and he was gone
* * *
in the beginning
there was my face-off with God and Adam
I refused to serve His will
I refused to tend the Garden clad only in my hair
I refused to bathe with the animals
I refused to be put on my back
instead, I sleep with the demons
I travel through mirrors, through night
I fly with the screech owl and the bat
and carry the bodies of babies
in my ragged fingers
* * *
--when I slip naked between your sheets
beware that you do not lose your way--
* * *
witch that I am,
I seduce your husbands
I kill your newborns
I drive your daughters into the night
* * *
you accuse me of these witchcrafts
(banished me from Eden
when I whispered His name
from my heat into the balmy breeze)
so I live through others
my insides are warm, fiery
to the touch
I wed through adultery
I conceive through murder
I love as you forbid your daughters to do the same
sin is my life
sin is my pathway to the world
* * *
does this mean I must be exorcised
through your pretty trinkets,
marvelous amulets
the three angels can do nothing
though I leave of my own free will
I do relish my flight
my creation of so much darkness
to combat the glaring light
--just look into my eyes--
do you see me
do you see through me
do you see at all
but I see you
* * *
just try to banish me again
just try to keep your loved ones away from me
just try to close the door to my cave
the windows are your vanity
your shame
your longings for purity in blood-covered bodies
I came First
I had the First Man
I danced with the First Cause
* * *
when I last had a man
I swallowed him whole
and he laughed with joy inside my belly

30 January 1993

Lilith: A Monologue

Written and Performed
at the United Nations by
M. Kelley Hunter,
Astrologer

You wonder: who am I coming at you like your shadow?
I am black but comely, O Daughters of Earth.
Joy is my sister. Sister I to Death.
I am the first and I am the last.

I am the honored one and I am the scorned one.
I am the whore and the holy one.
I am the substance and the one who has no substance.

I sleep on the earth and I dance in the trees.
I lie in the sands and I fly on the breeze.
I walk in the sun and I drink with the bees.
I sing with the rocks and I do as I please.

You have summoned me with your desires.
There are things you need to know about Love and Creation.
What can I know about Love, you ask?
I seduce, I destroy, I have no heart?

Those are lies. Lies they tell about me now.
Lies they might tell about you later.
I live in the tree of life, with the serpent in the roots
and the thunderbird of enlightenment in its branches.

Why are you afraid of me, afraid of the tree?
What is inside of you is outside of you
And what you see outside is what is inside of you.
It is visible and it is your garment.

How beautiful are thy feet in shoes, O Daughters of the Moon!
I am wild, like the wind! Yes!
Thy navel is like a round goblet filled with wine.
Thy belly is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies.

I sleep in the desert. I live in trees. I kiss serpents. Yes!
Thy two breasts are like two young deer that are twins.
Thy neck is as a tower of ivory.
Thine eyes like the fishpools by the white harbor.

My passions are boundless, untamed. Yes!
My passions are the same as yours.
Feel your passion. Let it fill you. Let it fill you with your power.

And you, Man, Hero, still two-thirds god!
Do you remember me?
Do you remember what we once were to each other?
Do you remember the love that we shared?

I long for a mate, thirsty like water.
Come to me, I need your seed
Or I wither and die, no fruit in my branches.
I want all of you.
I draw you in to meet me,
All-surrendered, all-potent, all-consuming
To the altar of fire.

Why do you resist me?
Is it because I am stronger than you
In the darkness of the night?
You say I am an illusion, like a dream.
Poor fool, I am no dream.

I offer you rapture and peace for your sterile pride.
You deny and question,
But mine eyes gleam on thee, lit with an alien light.
My lips proclaim mysteries.
My arms hold all that gods desire and fools reject.
Behold me!
Yes, I am tempting you. I am temptation.

Glory in the temptation of knowledge, O Adam,
I am your salvation.
You must give yourself to me,
Give your sins to me.
I will take you beyond sin.
I am the door to the garden.

But I will not submit to you and be put beneath you,
Like a serving maid.
He conquers me who dares to pay my price.
I ask too much, you say?
Yet I give all.
Why do you reject my love?

Watch out, you man, I warn you.
When I leave, you will fall asleep
And your rib will be taken out for your mate.

You banish me, but you will be cast out from the garden
And struggle to be reborn.
I will return to remind you of what you really want.
How you feel broken with a mate who is part of you,
Like a crutch.

And you, Woman, watch out for the Hero.
One day he may turn against you and call you whore.

But until that day,
I will bring the men from the fields
To the temple for the holy rites of love.

Until that day,
When the fertile crescent is burning
With the raging fires of war,
And the Earth is dying from the poisons of the weapons.

I go now, but you will hear my voice
In the wailing of women mourning their dead children,
In the howling winds and the hurricanes,
The earthquakes and the volcanoes!

Sonneth to Lilith

Creature created Adamlike of dust,
Proud to be his equal, independent:

Rather than bear his brats, resplendant
In those desert places where man's lust
Has driven you forever.

Not to trust Your lovers, sons of God once ascendent
As watchers, now inevitably due end at
The final pit.

Nephilim children thrust
Into that ancient world to become heroic,
All killed now.

But you have your revenge:

Death to human babies? How silly,
Claiming goddesshood. Sophomoric,
Saying you're a succubus.

You can cringe
But I pray FOR you, flesh and blood like me.

Zohar Sitrei Torah 1:147b-148b
Jacob's Journey

Jacob had entered this gateway to faith. [1]
Adhering to that faith, he had to be tested
in the same place his fathers had been tested,
entering in peace and emerging in peace.[2]
Adam entered but was not careful.[3]
Seduced by her, he sinned with that whore of a woman,
the primordial serpent.[4]
Noah entered but was not careful.
Seduced by her, he sinned as well,
as it is written: He drank of the wine and became drunk
and uncovered himself within his tent (Gen. 9:21)
Abraham entered and emerged,
as it is written:
And Abram went down to Egypt...
And Abram came up from Egypt (Gen. 12:10, 13:1)
Isaac entered and emerged,
as it is written: Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar...
From there he went up to Be'er Sheva (Gen 26:1, 23)
Jacob, having entered into faith,
had to continue and probe the other side.
For one who is saved from there is a loved one,
a chosen one of the Blessed Holy One.
What is written?
Jacob left Be'er Sheva
the secret of the mystery of faith,
and set out for Haran
the side of the woman of whoredom, the adulteress. [5]
The secret of secrets:
Out of the scorching noon of Isaac,
out of the dregs of wine,[6]
a fungus emerged, a cluster,
male and female together,
red as a rose,[7]
expanding in many directions and paths.

The male is called Sama'el,
his female is always included within him.
Just as it is on the side of holiness,
so it is on the other side:
male and female embracing one another.
The female of Sama'el is called Serpent, [8]
Woman of Whoredom,
End of All Flesh, End of Days.

Two evil spirits joined together:
the spirit of the male is subtle;
the spirit of the female is diffused in many ways and paths
but joined to the spirit of the male.

She bedecks herself with all kinds of jewelry
like an abhorent prostitute posing on the corner to seduce men.

The fool who approches her--
she grabs him and kisses him, [Prov. 7:13]
pours him wine from the dregs, from the venom of vipers.
As soon as he drinks, he strays after her.

Seeimg him stray from the path of truth,
she strips herself of all her finery that she dangled before that fool,
her adornments for seducing men:
her hair all arranged, red as a rose,
her face white and red,
six trinkets dangling from her ears,
her bed covered with fabric from Egypt,
on her neck all the jewels of the East,
her mouth poised, a delicate opening,
what lovely trappings!
The tongue pointed like a sword,
her words smooth like oil,
her lips beautiful, red as a rose,
sweet with all the sweeetness of the world.
She is dressed in purple,
adorned with forty adornments minus one. [9]

This fool follows her, drinks from the cup of wine,
fornicates with her, deviates after her.
What does she do?
She leaves him sleeping in bed.
She ascends, denounces him, obtains permission, and descends.
[10]

That fool wakes up and plans to play with her as before.
But she removes her decorations
and turns into a powerful warrior confronting him.
Arrayed in armor of flashing fire,
his[11] awesome terror vibrates the victim's body and soul.
He is full of fearsome eyes;
in his hand a sharp-edged sword drips bitter drops.
He kills that fool and flings him into hell.
Jacob descended to her, went straight to her abode, [12]
as it is said:
and he set out for Haran. [5]
He saw all the trappings of her house
and was saved from her.
Her mate, Sama'el, was offended
and swooped down to wage war
but could not overcome him,
as it is written:
And a man wrested with him... (Gen. 32:25)
Now he was saved and perfected,
raised to a perfect sphere and called Israel.
He attained a high rung, total perfection!
He became the central pillar, of whom it is written:
The center bar in the middle of the planks shall run from end to end

(Exo. 26:28) (Matt83:76-79f)

Dante Gabriel Rossetti's Poem "Lilith,"
Later Published as "Body's Beauty" (1868)

Of Adam's first wife, Lilith, it is told
(The witch he loved before the gift of Eve,)
That, ere the snake's, her sweet tongue could deceive,
And her enchanted hair was the first gold.

And still she sits, young while the earth is old,
And, subtly of herself contemplative,
Draws men to watch the bright web she can weave,
Till heart and body and life are in its hold.

The rose and poppy are her flower; for where
Is he not found, O Lilith, whom shed scent
And soft-shed kisses and soft sleep shall snare?
Lo! as that youth's eyes burned at thine, so went
Thy spell through him, and left his straight neck bent
And round his heart one strangling golden hair.
(Collected Works, 216. ).

Her lute hangs shadowed in the apple-tree,
While flashing fingers weave the sweet-strung spell
Between its chords; and as the wild notes swell,
The sea-bird for those branches leaves the sea.

But to what sound her listening ear stoops she?
What netherworld gulf-whispers doth she hear,
In answering echoes from what planisphere,
Along the wind, along the estuary?

She sinks into her spell: and when full soon
Her lips move and she soars into her song,
What creatures of the midmost main shall throng
In furrowed surf-clouds to the summoning rune:
Till he, the fated mariner, hears her cry,
And up her rock, bare-breasted, comes to die?
(Collected Works 361)

Piled deep below the screening apple-branch
They lie with bitter apples in their hands:
And some are only ancient bones that blanch,
And some had ships that last year's wind did launch,
And some were yesterday the lords of lands.

In the soft dell, among the apple-trees,
High up above the hidden pit she stands,
And there for ever sings, who gave to these,
That lie below, her magic hour of ease,
And those her apples holden in their hands.

This in my dreams is shown me; and her hair
Crosses my lips and draws my burning breath;
Her song spreads golden wings upon the air,
Life's eyes are gleaming from her forehead fair,
And from her breasts the ravishing eyes of Death.

Men say to me that sleep hath many dreams,
Yet I knew never but this dream alone:
There, from a dried-up channel, once the stream's,
The glen slopes up; even such in sleep it seems
As to my waking sight the place well know.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

My love I call her, and she loves me well:
But I love her as in the maelstrom's cup
The whirled stone loves the leaf inseparable
That clings to it round all the circling swell,
And that the same last eddy swallows up.
(Collected Works 377)

Eden's Bower

by Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1868

It was Lilith the wife of Adam:
(Eden bower's in flower.)
Not a drop of her blood was human,
But she was made like a soft sweet woman.
Lilith stood on the skirts of Eden;
(And O the bower of the hour!)
She was the first that thence was driven;
With her was hell and with Eve was heaven.

In the ear of the Snake said Lilith :--
(Eden bower's in flower.)
'To thee I come when the rest is over;


A snake was I when thou wast my lover.

I was the fairest snake in Eden:
(And O the bower and the hour!)
By the earth's will, new form and feature
Made me a wife for the earth's new creature.

'Take me thou as I come from Adam:
(Eden bower's in flower.)
Once again shall my love subdue thee;
The past is past and I am come to thee.

'O but Adam was thrall to Lilith!
(And O the bower and the hour!)
All the threads of my hair are golden,
And there in a net his heart was holden.

'O and Lilith was queen of Adam!
(Eden bower's in flower.)
All the day and the night together
My breath could shake his soul like a feather.

'What great joys had Adam and Lilith!--
(And O the bower and the hour!)
Sweet close rings of the serpent's twining,
As heart in heart lay sighing and pining.

What bright babes had Adam and Lilith!--
(Eden bower's in flower.)
Shapes that coiled in the woods and waters,
Glittering sons and radiant daughters.

'O thou God, the Lord God of Eden!
(And O the bower and the hour!)
Say, was this fair body for no man,
That of Adam's flesh thou mak'st him a woman?

'O thou Snake, the King-snake of Eden!
(Eden bower's in flower.)
God's strong will our necks are under,
But thou and I may cleave it in sunder.

'Help, sweet Snake, sweet lover of Lilith!
(And O the bower and the hour!)
And let God learn how I loved and hated
Man in the image of God created.

'Help me once against Eve and Adam!
(Eden bower's in flower.)
Help me once for this one endeavour,
And then my love shall be thine for ever!

'Strong is God, the fell foe of Lilith:
(And O the bower and the hour!)
Nought in heaven or earth may affright him;
But join thou with me and we will smite him.

'Strong is God, the great God of Eden:
(Eden bower's in flower.)
Over all he made he hath power;
But lend me thou thy shape for an hour!

'Lend thy shape for the love of Lilith!
(And O the bower and the hour!)
Look, my mouth and cheek are ruddy,
And thou art cold, and fire is my body.

'Lend thy shape for the hate of Adam!
(Eden bower's in flower.)
That he may wail my joy that forsook him,
And curse the day when the bride-sleep took him.

'Lend thy shape for the shame of Eden!
(And O the bower and the hour!)
Is not the foe-God weak as the foeman
When love grows hate in the heart of a woman?

'Would'st thou know the heart's hope of Lilith?
(Eden bower's in flower.)
Then bring thou close thine head till it glisten
Along my breast, and lip me and listen.

'Am I sweet, O sweet Snake of Eden?
(And O the bower and the hour!)
Then ope thine ear to my warm mouth's cooing
And learn what deed remains for our doing.

'Thou didst hear when God said to Adam:--
(Eden bower's in flower.)
" Of all this wealth I have made thee warden;
Thou'rt free to eat of the trees of the garden:

'"Only of one tree eat not in Eden;
(And O the bower and the hour!)
All save one I give to thy freewill,--
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil."

'O my love, come nearer to Lilith!
(Eden bower's in flower.)
In thy sweet folds bind me and bend me,
And let me feel the shape thou shalt lend me!

'In thy shape I'll go back to Eden;
(And O the bower and the hour!)
In these coils that Tree will I grapple,
And stretch this crowned head forth by the apple.

'Lo, Eve bends to the breath of Lilith!
(Eden bower's in flower.)
O how then shall my heart desire
All her blood as food to its fire!

'Lo, Eve bends to the words of Lilith!--
(And O the bower and the hour!)
" Nay, this Tree's fruit,--why should ye hate it,
Or Death be born the day that ye ate it?

'"Nay, but on that great day in Eden,
(Eden bower's in flower.)
By the help that in this wise Tree is,
God knows well ye shall be as He is."

'Then Eve shall eat and give unto Adam;
(And O the bower and the hour!)
And then they both shall know they are naked,
And their hearts ache as my heart hath ached.

'Aye, let them hide in the trees of Eden,
(Eden bower's in flower.)
As in the cool of the day in the garden
God shall walk without pity or pardon.

'Hear, thou Eve, the man's heart in Adam!
(And O the bower and the hour!)
Of his brave words hark to the bravest:--
" This the woman gave that thou gavest."

'Hear Eve speak, yea, list to her, Lilith!
(Eden bower's in flower.)
Feast thine heart with words that shall sate it--
" This the serpent gave and I ate it."

'O proud Eve, cling close to thine Adam,
(And O the bower and the hour!)
Driven forth as the beasts of his naming
By the sword that for ever is flaming.

'Know, thy path is known unto Lilith!
(Eden bower's in flower.)
While the blithe birds sang at thy wedding,
There her tears grew thorns for thy treading.

'O my love, thou Love-snake of Eden!
(And O the bower and the hour!)
O to-day and the day to come after!
Loose me, love,--give breath to my laughter!

'O bright Snake, the Death-worm of Adam!
(Eden bower's in flower.)
Wreathe thy neck with my hair's bright tether,
And wear my gold and thy gold together!

'On that day on the skirts of Eden,
(And O the bower and the hour!)
In thy shape shall I glide back to thee,
And in my shape for an instant view thee.

'But when thou'rt thou and Lilith is Lilith,
(Eden bower's in flower.)
In what bliss past hearing or seeing
Shall each one drink of the other's being!

'With cries of "Eve!" and "Eden!" and "Adam!"
(And O the bower and the hour!)
How shall we mingle our love's caresses,
I in thy coils, and thou in my tresses!

'With those names, ye echoes of Eden,
(Eden bower's in flower.)
Fire shall cry from my heart that burneth,--
" Dust he is and to dust returneth!"

'Yet to-day, thou master of Lilith,--
(And O the bower and the hour!)
Wrap me round in the form I'll borrow
And let me tell thee of sweet to-morrow.

'In the planted garden eastward in Eden,
(Eden bower's in flower.)
Where the river goes forth to water the garden,
The springs shall dry and the soil shall harden.

'Yea, where the bride-sleep fell upon Adam,
(And O the bower and the hour!)
None shall hear when the storm-wind whistles
Through roses choked among thorns and thistles.

'Yea, beside the east-gate of Eden,
(Eden bower's in flower.)
Where God joined them and none might sever,
The sword turns this way and that for ever.

'What of Adam cast out of Eden?
(And O the bower and the hour!)
Lo! with care like a shadow shaken,
He tills the hard earth whence he was taken.

'What of Eve too, cast out of Eden?
(Eden bower's in flower.)
Nay, but she, the bride of God's giving,
Must yet be mother of all men living.

'Lo, God's grace, by the grace of lilith!
(And O the bower and the hour!)
To Eve's womb, from our sweet to-morrow,
God shall greatly multiply sorrow.

'Fold me fast, O God-snake of Eden!
(Eden bower's in flower.)
What more prize than love to impel thee?
Grip and lip my limbs as I tell thee!

'Lo! two babes for Eve and for Adam!
(And O the bower and the hour!)
Lo! sweet Snake, the travail and treasure,--
Two men-children born for their pleasure!

'The first is Cain and the second Abel:
(Eden bower's in flower.)
The soul of one shall be made thy brother,
And thy tongue shall lap the blood of the other."
(And O the bower and the hour!)

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