Ancient History

Adam, a brown old vulture in the rain,

Shivered below his wind-whipped olive-trees;

Huddling sharp chin on scarred and scraggy knees,

He moaned and mumbled to his darkening brain;

‘He was the grandest of them all was Cain!

‘A lion laired in the hills, that none could tire:

‘Swift as a stag: a stallion of the plain,

‘Hungry and fierce with deeds of huge desire.’

Grimly he thought of Abel, soft and fair

A lover with disaster in his face,

And scarlet blossom twisted in bright hair.

‘Afraid to fight; was murder more disgrace?’

‘God always hated Cain’ He bowed his head

The gaunt wild man whose lovely sons were dead.