(based on Daniel, Chapter 4)
Behold, in rags, an outcast from the human race!
No more do counsellors and prefects seek my face,
no more do governors and satraps share my feasts.
Now, ox-like, bathed with dew, I dwell among the beasts
and, watching seven times of madness slowly pass,
I drink from puddles and I crop the shrivelled grass.
This is Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
whose splendour has departed, whose glory is gone.
Dim memories of silver cups and golden plates,
my ziggurat-filled city with its hundred gates…
Warm baths, a trimmed and tended beard, the tongs that curled
the hair of the exalted ruler of the world…
That hair, as long as feathers on an eagle’s wings,
now mocks the former greatness of the king of kings.
This is Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
whose splendour has departed, whose glory is gone.
The dreams and fantasies and visions of my head
that slid beneath the door to haunt me in my bed
have now become reality. Can all the laws
of Hammurabi rid me of these bird-like claws,
these demons’ talons on my fingers and my toes?
Can Nebo, my protector, change the fate I chose?
This is Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
whose splendour has departed, whose glory is gone.
Still, in the wretched ruins of my human mind,
appears the fresh and lovely bride I left behind.
Perhaps from lush and hanging terraces she sees,
beyond the pomegranates and the orange trees,
the mighty Ishtar Gate, Procession Avenue,
and feels, like me, upon her cheek the cooling dew.
This is Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
whose splendour has departed, whose glory is gone.
Yet if the Most High wills, my reason shall return;
for all my pride has been brought low so I might learn
to honour him. ‘His ways are justice,’ says the ox;
‘and all his works are truth,’ reply the dusty rocks.
Now, stretching out to him my thickened fingernails,
I know my reign was like a feather in his scales.
This is Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
whose splendour has departed, whose glory is gone.
Originally published on FaithWriters website.
Bruce Phenix was born in Birmingham, England, where he still lives. After studying Classics at Oriel College, Oxford, he worked as a civil servant until his retirement in 2021. He has a longstanding interest in foreign languages and other cultures and in translating and writing poetry. His books include “The ‘Rimas’ of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer” and “Ballads and Sonnets of Javier del Granado” (the Bolivian Poet Laureate until his death in 1996). His translations of Spanish, Swedish and Latin poetry have appeared in British and Swedish magazines and in the Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, and he has taken a particular interest in the Swedish poet Karin Boye. He won the Yeats Club’s 1989 Catullus Award for the best translation from an ancient language and was awarded diplomas by the Consistorio de la Gaya Ciencia and the Universidad Mayor de San Simón in Bolivia for his translations of Spanish poetry. His long poem on the life of King David and other Bible-inspired poetry and prose have appeared on the FaithWriterswebsite. His wife is Chinese and has encouraged him to take an interest in Chinese classical poetry.