Herbert Mason

“You have known, O Gilgamesh,What interests me,To drink from the Well of Immortality.Which means to make the deadRise from their gravesAnd the prisoners from their cellsThe sinners from their sins.I think love's kiss kills our heart of flesh.It is the only way to eternal life,Which should be unbearable if livedAmong the dying flowersAnd the shrieking farewellsOf the overstretched arms of our spoiled hopes.”

“But my hand was too small to do the gathering. [Epic of Gilgamesh, p. 79]”

“He looked at the walls,Awed at the heightsHis people had achievedAnd for a moment -- just a moment --All that lay behind himPassed from view.”

“Don't moralize at me! I have no loveFor images, old gods, prophetic words.I want to talk to Utnapishtim!Tell me how.”