Collected Poems Anthony Burgess (best pdf reader for ebooks txt) 📖

be bound in a garland

Of love and honour. And what a man owns shall be sacred,

Since it comes from God – be it his goods or his life.

Both are inviolate – no killing, no stealing. Nay, more:

No coveting of the things our brothers possess,

For sin begins in desire. Above all, we are free,

Free beings, copies of that God

Who is the first and last free being – free

Even to choose to enter the covenant

With him, with him who made us. And now I ask:

‘Will you accept the covenant?’And again he asked

Not the leaders alone but all the people:

‘Will you accept the covenant?’ The word bounced,

Echoed – covenant covenant – and the reply

Echoed and bounced all along the valley.

The tablets in his arms, the graver’s tools

In the hands of Joshua, who was to be with him

The long climb of his absence, Moses began

To climb the mountain, slowly, Joshua after,

And the Israelites watched him leave – for how long? – their lives.

But Aaron was with them, Aaron still, in Aaron’s hands

The rule, in Aaron’s head the law, on Aaron’s

Tongue the word. They watched, and Aaron watched,

Till Moses was lost to view, then turned to their lives,

Their grumbling wives, the cow in labour, sheep

With foot-rot, work and sleep, the common lot,

Thinking of God and Moses and the covenant

But not too much, having other things to do.

10

A RESTIVE PEOPLE

Up high on Horeb, with the evening coming on,

They looked at the rolling cloud that, somehow, beckoned,

And Moses nodded slowly, saying to Joshua:

‘I must enter now. Do you understand? I must be

Entirely alone with the voice of all things. Make you

Camp somewhere down there, in the rocks’ shelter.’

And Joshua asked: ‘How long will it be?’ Moses smiled.

‘The world and the seas and the stars were made in

Six days. To make laws for the Israelites

May take somewhat longer. A good deal longer.

But I think we are well enough supplied.’ Joshua said:

‘It will be a bread and water matter.’ – ‘Bread and water

Will suffice me. At dawn and at sundown.

But you are a young man. Hunt by all means,

But do not wander too far. Remember – if all this

Should be too much for me – if – ’ But Joshua said:

‘You are not to talk in that manner.’ And Moses: ‘I

Grow aware of my age. The laws of living and dying

Will not be suspended for a mere

Instrument of the Lord. There will be others.

Already this one shows signs of wear. Remember,

I say, that you are the next chosen.’ – ‘No,’ said Joshua,

‘There must be others before me – your brother – ’

‘Aaron,’ said Moses, ‘grows old too. And – I may say this –

The faith wavers in the old and the ageing. They

Dream too much of the past, a past of old gods.

I must look to the young. To you. And now – ’

Joshua saw the solemnity of the moment

And sank to his knees. Moses blessed him, saying:

‘May your body be washed in the waters of the eternal.

May the eternal dwell in muscle, nerve, sinew.

Be near, Joshua, near, for you too are called.’

So Moses entered the cloud and was lost to view.

But Joshua, in moonlight, tending his fires, hearing

Owls and the bark and squeal of hunter and hunted,

Heard also a voice, and it was not the voice of Moses.

‘It is true’, he whispered to the fire. ‘All is true.’

So time passed, and a time passed below

Among the Israelites, neither exciting nor exacting,

Feeding their flocks and their children, baking bread,

Loving, quarrelling, sitting at night around fires,

Talking of the past not the future. One such night,

Aaron and Koreh strolled among the tents

On an informal patrol when a voice hailed them

With ‘Any news from up there?’ It was Dathan,

A little drunk, stepping out of the shadows.

‘News?’ said Aaron. And Dathan: ‘I apologise.

A very homely and earthly word. What news

Of the cow in calf? What news

Of the woman stoned by the well for alleged adultery?

I merely wondered – well, when he is returning to us.

It seems to be already a long time.’ –

‘Two Sabbaths,’ said Koreh, ‘if you would be precise.

One of which, you will recall, you neglected to keep.’ –

‘I forgot,’ said Dathan. ‘You will remember that I said I forgot.

You will also remember that I said I thought it was nonsense.’ –

‘And that you were rebuked for blasphemy,’ said Aaron.

‘The Lord’s Day is not to be termed nonsense.’ –

‘I thought we were all free men now,’ Dathan said,

‘All entitled to a free opinion. Rebuked, indeed,

For blasphemy, indeed. Who says it’s blasphemy?

You? Him?’ And Koreh: ‘You should be sleepy, Dathan,

Not ready for argument. Go to your bed now.’

And Dathan: ‘When I wish, sir. When I am ready.

Or is there a law about going to bed?’ Aaron answered:

‘Do not sneer at the law. The law is your

Tent and your blanket. The law watches over you

While you sleep.’ – ‘Pretty words,’ Dathan sneered,

‘But tell me this: where is this law you sing about?

Is it written in books? Is it engraved on stone?

I hear much of the law but see nothing of it.’ –

‘All in good time,’ said Koreh. ‘You will see

All that you wish to see. The law on stone

Will soon come down from that mountain. Then, Dathan,

You can pore over the law to your heart’s content.’ –

‘I wonder,’ Dathan said. ‘Is that blasphemy too?

Blasphemy to wonder whether he’ll ever come down again?

He’s growing old and weak: the wolves could get him.

His heart could stop. He may have received new orders:

Go down, Moses, to the other side. There are

Other slaves to bring to freedom.’ Aaron frowned.

‘Have a care, Dathan. You do not know what you are saying.’ –

‘Ah, more blasphemy, is it?’ Dathan said.

‘More law-breaking? I’d be glad to see that law

Written down somewhere. And now I shall go to bed,

Like a good law-abiding citizen. God watch over you.’

And he stumbled off in the shadows. Aaron and Koreh

Looked at each other. Aaron shrugged. The two

Continued their patrol. The next day came

With the things it had to bring – sheep to pasture,

A cow calving, a human child brought forth

And, that night, to the blowing