I laugh to think how thou shalt laugh anon,
When that which no man's eye hath looked upon,
The secret Book of Hermes which is Thoth,
Is opened to thine hand and called thine own.
He wrote it, and the Gods before his face
Fled.—And it lies . . . If ever word of grace
Or spell of power thou need, come then to me
And speak. Thou shalt be guided to the place.
Two leaves it hath, on which two sorceries
Are written. If thou read the first of these,
Thou shalt enchant the earth, the clouds above,
The underworld, the mountains and the seas;
And all the words that wingèd things may say,
And creeping things, shall be made thine that day;
Yea, thou shalt see all fishes in the deep
And God's power guiding each upon his way.
And if thou read the second, though there lies
Above thee all Amenti, thou shalt rise
And take thy shape again, and see the Moon
And Ra and all the children of the skies.'
And Nefrekepta cried: 'O Priest and King!
I bless thee. Tell me every gorgeous thing
Thy soul desireth, they shall all be thine,
Wilt thou but guide my steps to that great spring.'
Then smiled the Priest: 'My Prince, so let it be!
Send me an hundred bars of silver, free
Of all fault, for my burial when I die;
And two full priesthoods give me without fee.'
And Nefrekepta called a youth, and bade
An hundred bars of silver pure be made,
And two new priesthoods named to Thoth and Ptah,
And sealed him priest to Ptah and Thoth unpaid.
Then the man spoke: 'The Book of Thoth doth rest
In Coptos Sea, hid in a golden chest;
The gold doth lie in silver; that in wrought
Ebon and ivory, fitted nest in nest;
That in sweet cedar; that in bronze doth lie;
The bronze in iron. 'Tis knotted with a ply
Of endless Snake; and round it for one league
Are scorpion, asp, and worm to make men die.'