Analysis of The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Scorpion Beings
Keith Lankford 1964 (AL)
The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Scorpion Beings
Ishtar at his door offering herself at last
Gilgamesh refrained, much knowledge or her past
The Bull of Heaven shall reign down upon thee
She explained to Anu, or from hell I shall free
The dead to the Earth, to roam with living
From the House of dust to the firmament and sea
The Bull of Heaven fell from the sky
Unleashing great plagues and famines men died
Gilgamesh angered, Ekidu at his side
Slaughtered the Bull slayed and pried
The Heart of the beast firmly in hand
Offered to Samash god of the sun of the land
The son of Sin the god of the moon
Samash deity of Justice helped slaughter entomb
Humbaba keeper of the Cedar Forest
Stripped of his armor beheaded before this
Meeting with Ishtar and the turned away kiss
Which brought upon Earth such hell as this
Ishtar angered revenge she shall have
Cast curses at Enkidu not immortal he passed
Far from the living in death he did roam
Gilgamesh angered lashed out alone
Gifts he offered to the gods above all
If he might walk with the dead in the fall
From the living on Earth to the House of Dust
Where Enkidu now dwelled taken from us
Uruk did mourn, statues were built
Gilgamesh sat waiting where Enkidu laid still
Refusing to give his friend to the land
Until maggots fell from his face and his hands
Gilgamesh shattered, Mortal he knew
Journeyed to see the survivors of the deluge
Of human descent they roamed foreign worlds
After being granted immortality
Having saved the seeds of the world
Far East he traveled new adventures unfurled
Crossing great rivers and Oceans quite fast
Slaying lions, bears as great mountains he passed
The sun soon rose from distant worlds
Mount Masha it’s said the insects had burrowed
The Scorpion beings guarding the pass
After Gilgamesh pleaded mortality quite fast
Soon he would cross the Waters of Death
After traveling twelve leagues
The Ferryman helped him on with his quest
Surrounded by stone giants
Gilgamesh show them their death
Sacred they were he would later regret
The Forest of Cedar offered to him a plan
He cut many down intent to use them
Punting poles he made, using garments as sails
To the Island of Dilmun where he plead his tale
Reprimanded he was quite quickly we know
For he wasted much life seeking to be immortal
Scheme | X AABBXB XCCCDD XXEFFF XAXXGG EXXXDX XXHBII AAHAXA JXXXJX XXXXXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01011010010 101111000111 101110101 01110111011 10111111111 0110111110 1011110101 011101101 0101101011 1101111 1001101 011011001 10111101101 011101101 110011011001 110101010 11110010011 10110001011 110111111 101001111 11011101011 1101001111 1101101 1110101011 1111101001 10101110111 11111011 111101 11101111 0101111101 01101111011 1101011 101100101010 1100111101 1010100100 10101101 11110101001 1011001011 10101111011 01111101 11110111 0100101001 10110010011 111101011 1010011 0100111111 0101110 11111 1010111001 010110101101 1110101111 1111101011 10101111111 1001111011 1110111011010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,293 |
Words | 425 |
Sentences | 1 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 55 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 186 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 41 |
About this poem
The Epic of Gilgamesh
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Submitted by Keithdalankford on November 16, 2021
Modified by Keithdalankford on November 17, 2021
- 2:07 min read
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"The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Scorpion Beings" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/114152/the-epic-of-gilgamesh%3A-the-scorpion-beings>.
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