In the beginning, there was only man
While in pairs the deer and the lion ran,
Sleeping and gorging, life then was gay,
While in the Eden man held sway.
O, what foul a day it was
When man felt lonely alas!
What mistresses for all, for me none!
Why did me the pretty sex shun?
Thus a gloomy morn his Maker he bade,
And in emotional overtones this speech he made-
"You sent me here to lord the place,
But if I be the governor, where is my governess?
Doesn’t it seem unjust that all creatures frolic around
While the crown of all things never taste the ground?
Every morn they rise and together they go,
In the shade at midday together they show,
While the wretched me, I just eat figs and fruits
And never get what my palate and body suits.
You made me the strongest, but armless I lie,
Restless, beholding the moon, at night I sigh;
And then the filthy fortunates, their strength they show,
Lonely I lie- on whom do I show my machismo?
Water in the brook gurgles, zephyr comes from the blue sky,
The rabbit chases the lively turf, in rabbit holes pry,
The bees buzz the branches, the birds clear the way,
The duckling learns to swim, the duck looks in dismay.
Enough! And here am I, the roof and crown of all things,
Barren is my life while the world sings.
Enough! Ain’t I the one who took a whole day
So that coming to Eden I could have my play?
Hardly it suits for one who’s made in your image
To wither with time, yet not grow in age.
Yes, give me someone with whom I can play,
To be my mistress, someone I can display."
The atoms had stopped, the breeze dead,
The gullible creatures gaped with their sinews red-
Here was the God’s favourite, unsatisfied, prostrate,
The brave man with speech when his folly state.
And with trembling ears and strained eyes
They dreaded what in future lies.
"I am angry, but it pains me more,
The present state of your mind I deplore.
How my graced favours shall one day be despised,
As I placed you in my Eden prized!
It took me a day to make your birth,
And the same for the Heaven and the Earth!
I searched the world for the finest clay
So that on it my charmed hands could play.
I gave you a stature high, so the master you may be,
I stood you on two legs so that all could see.
I suffered all to move on four,
I put free arms in the master’s store.
And lo! The master was made with sinews strong,
Immortal blood coursing through a reign long....
I lavished all the luxury that I could spare,
So that your Eden may not be bare.
I made the sun to wake you from sleep,
And the moon at night to make you sleep,
The bees to buzz, the butterfly to colour,
And the bird to fan the torrid air.
The stream to cascade down, the eagle to soar,
To slake your thirst the Heavens I tore!
You fool, you desire to be placed with the common lot,
Through you desire your virtues will blot;
I’ve seen fools many, like Lucifer who strove for power,
But none like you bent on making himself lower.
But I’ll not let a stain on my munificence
Even if your desire rests on exuberance.
Let not the coming age say
That the Maker shied away,
Let not I be charged of imperfection,
Let my Garden be better than your passion.
But hear! The woman I shall make,
Not for my order but for your sake;
Still, if the order of my Garden crumbles,
Through this addition if the poise stumbles,
Let not yourself say that I
Changed your sigh to cry.
I will give you what I don’t want to give,
Through your asking let me change the way you live;
Yet you’ll receive what you don’t want to take,
The way I made you, the woman I cannot make."
The grapes shook and then stood still,
The water stopped tumbling in the rill,
The landing birds then shook the boughs,
The sun stopped moving, glistened more the rays-
Only the blood coursed through stretched veins,
And ‘fraid Adam from speaking more abstains.
But the invisible Power that spoke was gone
And the process of creation was on.
Well, the finest clay of Adam was there no more,
Gone was the flesh and blood from the Celestial store.
How then could the woman be devised,
Thus God and His Retinue surmised.
"’Tis clear that from what Adam was made
Is no more, nor can it be bade;
We could clone a man with Adam’s bone,
But mere cloning won’t do alone.
It’s a complex case of biological reproduction,
Since a new sex is waiting for introduction.
Again, the perfection to which Adam was heir,
For his mistress he cannot sire.
‘Tis thus clear, since she must be created,
With an imperfect partner must he be sated."
The Retinue on the process thus agreed,
Thus must be treated insatiable greed.
So, at night as Adam lay asleep,
To his abode his Lord did creep.
It pained Him thus to impoverish His child,
But for a prize big it was a sacrifice mild.
And with his blade He sliced a piece of Adam’s bone,
Denying the perfection of which he was lord alone.
Thus must man rest, little dents to his prodigy,
When inferior man begets inferior protégé.
Thus must folly and greed be punished
When the kindness to be at the helm is ravished.
Thus, laden with the perfect bone, the God pavilion retires;
And little enthused sets to make what all admires.
The bone he took and cloned to first make a man,
And then set to mend it and turn to a woman.
He chipped a little to shorten her height,
He chipped the sides to make a comely sight.
The waist he carved to make the breast,
Where Adam might retire when he needs rest.
She must not be bold and must be shy,
And to behold her face the long hair he must pry.
Adam’s shameless, so she must blush,
Thus at her cheeks were added purple rush.
From the nectar He separated saccharine,
And added to the voice, and for facial shine...
When gifted ornaments fate must miss,
With collected trinkets must fate suffice.
When creation is not fortunate of choice,
With contingencies must the created poise.
When created second one is cherished and adored,
With no responsibilities of the firstborn to be abhorred,
The latter must be satisfied with this consummate prize,
Like the younger prince, adored, but never to rise.
Thus, to the Maker, when the initiative was denied,
With humbled options was Providence tied.
When forced to action, the vestiges He bade,
And with rags and pieces was the creature made.
When a well-made plan is spoiled by a stubborn demand,
Divine anger must befall the ill-desired stand.
When to the jealous God affront is caused,
When to the wind His intimate order is tossed,
Ire most will lie with the cause of tempting gyration,
But favour, as it lurks in the divine heart,
The favoured with lenient whips will depart.
If affronting desire must stick like a sore thumb,
The tempted will get the loaf, the tempter crumb.
Thus, with Eve, when she was complete,
The God departed for his Garden Seat.
Presently, with His creatures His Garden swarmed,
When presenting Adam with Eve, He warned,
"My Son, since from your stance you’ll not relent,
And since I found your own source spent,
This woman, though complete, stands untried,
With your immortal self will she be tied.
But beware, so long she’s held in reins,
So long shall immortal blood bless your veins.
Fickle minded, as will be her wont to stray,
The moment you wink, she will betray."
Bent in sadness and wrinkled with thought,
The omniscient now His abode sought,
For undoing His beloved order was a mere woman,
Spawned now a sex that will bring a thousand Falls for Man.
-Last week of November’99, Calcutta-63
COMMENTS :
This poem was inspired by a reading of
Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock. The reading of the
poem was a great experience- it showed what could be achieved with
rhyme in couplets (aa, bb, cc…etc). It was inspiring also
because the verse was not flawless- at many places the rhymes were
not quite accurate, and hence gave me the courage to follow in
steps of the greatest rhymer in our language. Anyway, The Rape
of the Lock induced me to write on a topic as deserving of (mock)epic
treatment. It is to be impressed that the poem is a light
hearted treatment of the advent of Eve in the Garden of Eden, and
any serious or Feminist reading, although not forbidden, would be
really a misreading and a folly.
The original intention was to make this poem
the first Canto of a much greater poem, treating the whole
‘history’ of humanity in the same humorous vein- this Garden
of Eden episode was to be immediately followed by the departure of
the pair from the divine Garden.
