ISHTAR AND IZDUBAR

[_Translated by Leonidas Le Cenci Hamilton, M.A._]




ALCOVE I



TABLET I: COLUMN I

INVOCATION


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 love
And balmy breath, and I with thee shall rove
Through _Sari_[4] past ere life on earth was known,
And Time unconscious sped not, nor had flown.