07.24.11
Song for the Feast of Heryshef
Song for the Feast of Heryshef
© 2011 Natalie Baan
King of the Two Lands,
great upon Your lake,
splendid sharp-horned ram,
all that lives You make.
Lord of Henen-nesu,
master of the land,
Bast comes forth to wake You;
You walk hand in hand
all along the river,
welcoming the day.
Green the new growth rises
where the floods once lay.
Mighty on the hill,
foremost of the field,
where the heart is still,
there You are revealed.
The sun is Your right eye,
the moon is Your left.
Send the winds of new life,
sweetened by Your breath.
Lusty in the springtime,
pure within Your hall,
O soul of the Great Nine,
come and bless us all.
King of the Two Lands,
great upon Your lake,
splendid sharp-horned ram,
all that lives You make.
Heryshef, arise!
Heryshef, awake!
The Eye of Ra has come to You
in beauty on Your lake.
Notes: Written in February 2010 for the Feast of Heryshef. Henen-nesu: the city later known as Heracleopolis, cult center of the ram-headed God Heryshef, whose name means “He who is upon His lake.” The sun is Your right eye…sweetened by Your breath: adapted from/inspired by the stela of Somtutefnakht (in Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. 3).