Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A CHARM TO BRING CHILDREN (EGYPT, A.D. 100) by CALE YOUNG RICE

First Line: TAKE TWELVE LEAVES OF THE MALE PALM
Last Line: GREAT IS THE LADY ISIS!
Subject(s): CHARMS (MAGIC); CHILDREN; EGYPT; CHILDHOOD;

Take twelve leaves of the male palm
And write on each the name of a god.
Wed each leaf to a lotus bloom
And bind the twain to a bulrush rod.
Walk with the stem betwixt your breasts
By the flooding Nile when the young moon shows,
Shadowy-pregnant, over the night.
Then -- making the sign of Horus --
Thrice to the left and thrice to the right --
Call, to the wind of the Desert,
@3Great is the lady Isis!@1



Home: PoetryExplorer.net