16. Ancient History. Sassoon, Siegfried. 1920. Picture-Show

Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967). Picture-Show. 1920.

16. 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!	5
‘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,	10
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.