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EVE 
 
 BY 
 KATHARINE HOWARD 
 
 Author of " The Book of the Serpent 
 
 BOSTON 
 SHERMAN, FRENCH # COMPANY 
 1913 
 
\<V 3 
 
 Entered at Stationers' Hall 
 
 Foreign Rights Reserved 
 
 Translation Rights Reserved 
 
 Copyright, 1913 
 Sherman, French &» Company 
 
 JCI.A357628 
 
TO 
 
 ELEANOR 
 
 \ 
 
SCENE 
 THE WORLD 
 
 SPEAKING CHARACTERS 
 
 PROPHETIC VOICE 
 
 ADAM 
 
 THE INSCRUTABLE ONE 
 
 EVE 
 
EVE 
 
What is it gigantesque? It pursueth! 
 
 All! All! pursueth! All! All! is gigan- 
 tesque ! 
 
 Thou art gigantesque. Thou! Atom 
 Thou art gigantesque! 
 
 [i] 
 
EVE 
 
 Adam! Adam! What followeth thee? 
 Adam! Adam! Why is the earth red 
 
 about thee? 
 Is it the slant of my rays? 
 Adam! Adam! Look behind thee! 
 What is it that shadows thee over? Mis- 
 shapen. Gigantesque. 
 What is it, mis-shapen, toil-worn, that 
 
 draggeth itself? 
 Where is the woman who followed thee 
 
 out of Eden? 
 What is it that followeth thee? 
 Thou shouldst weight its head down with 
 
 more burden, for once it comes up, 
 
 what of thee? 
 Where is Eve? Tall and fair, fashioned 
 
 I Eve, after a manner of rhythm. 
 I gave her the mark Hyacinthus. 
 Adam! Where is Eve? 
 
 [2] 
 
EVE 
 
 The woman 'twas who despoiled me; she 
 gave me the fruit, — I but ate. 
 
 Adam! Adam! Didst thou not look 
 with longing? 
 
 [31 
 
EVE 
 
 [Eve, with eyes looking earth-ward, searcheth 
 and searcheth strange things that have 
 grown in a night. 
 
 The Inscrutable One speaketh with her\ 
 
 Eve! Eve! Hast thou forgotten me? 
 
 Verily! Verily! Thou hast forgotten 
 me! 
 
 Thou hast strayed far from Eden! 
 
 Verily! Verily! Thy beauty hath dried 
 on thy bones! 
 
 Strange ... it is, that Time the Eter- 
 nal, should wither thee thus. 
 
 Why dost thou carry a burden? Why is 
 thy head bended down? 
 
 Why lookest thou utterly earth-ward? 
 
 What searchest thou on the ground? 
 
 Thou Inscrutable One! How cam'st 
 
 thou here? 
 Surely! I had forgotten thee, and all 
 that pertaineth. 
 
 1 have had sorrow. 
 
 [4] 
 
EVE 
 
 Burden and burden and burden. 
 
 Inside, and outside, and pressing about 
 me: — my shoulders are bent and my 
 head droopeth earth-ward. 
 
 Thou Inscrutable One! Whence com- 
 
 est thou? I had forgotten thee. 
 Thou callest me Eve? Eve had great 
 
 beauty. 
 God fashioned her. She was beautiful, 
 
 beautiful, beautiful! 
 
 1 am the woe part of Man. 
 
 What searchest thou on the ground, O 
 Eve? 
 
 Thou Inscrutable One! Graves! 
 There are graves in the Earth. 
 
 Yea! The graves, they are many — but 
 the most of my sons, they are grave- 
 less. 
 
 1 know by the circling of vultures. 
 With much woe I have born them — these 
 
 sons for the killing. 
 [5] 
 
EVE 
 
 O Thou Inscrutable One! A strange 
 
 dread is upon me of these things that 
 
 are growing about. 
 Knowest thou the sons I have born for 
 
 the killing? 
 The killing and killing of brothers . . . 
 Surely! The blood of the killing mois- 
 
 teneth not well the flowers. 
 Strange things have come up in a night. 
 O Thou Inscrutable One! The sons I 
 
 have born for the killing. 
 Born them and nourished them well for 
 
 the kill. 
 The white milk of me floweth red in their 
 
 veins; it floweth and floweth and 
 
 floweth, and the things that come up 
 
 from its moistening are fleshly and 
 
 blotched and poisoned. 
 They are things that come up in a night. 
 Surely! The blood of my sons moisten- 
 
 eth not well the earth. 
 
 [6] 
 
EVE 
 
 Eve! Thou hast wandered far, — 'tis a 
 marvel to me, how that thy beauty 
 hath dried on thy bones. 
 
 Canst thou remember the fair ways of 
 Eden? 
 
 Thou Inscrutable One! Thou bring- 
 
 est memory to me of things that we 
 played with in Eden. 
 Thou hast brought upon me unrest — we 
 were mighty in Eden. Why did I 
 follow him out . . . 
 
 1 would return, yea, even I, but I know 
 
 not the way. 
 I remember in Eden a ladder of light that 
 
 reached to the Sun. . . . 
 I remember me well the Ladder of Light 
 
 in Eden. 
 My daughters I had by the Sun ran lightly 
 
 upon the ladder, — hand in hand with 
 
 the Sons of God. 
 
 [7] 
 
EVE 
 
 My daughters who blossomed from me, as 
 
 the rose from the rose-tree. 
 Fragrant and fair were they who went 
 
 up the ladder hand in hand with the 
 
 Sons of God. 
 Dost thou remember, O Thou Inscrutable 
 
 One, the beetles we played with in 
 
 Eden? 
 Dost thou remember the beads they 
 
 rolled? 
 
 They rolled for the Ages. Verily, Eve, 
 the symbols of Eden were many! 
 
 Yea! The tale of the beads . . . some 
 
 of my daughters bartered their souls 
 
 for beads. 
 Verily! They have become finger idols, 
 
 caressed by the fingers of my sons 
 
 and my daughters. 
 Idols of finger touch. Yea, we were 
 
 mighty in Eden. 
 [8] 
 
EVE 
 
 O Thou Inscrutable One, did the Beetle 
 
 know for what that he rolled him his 
 
 beads? Didst thou? 
 Didst thou know that he served the Sun? 
 
 And the Frog ? Didst thou know of 
 
 his service? 
 
 Yea, we were mighty. And thou — dost 
 thou remember the Sun-birds of 
 Eden? 
 
 Florescent as thee by the Sun? 
 
 Eve! Why didst thou follow him out? 
 Hadst thou but waited a little . . . 
 
 O Thou Inscrutable One ! Would I have 
 
 followed him out? 
 He of the Mighty, He did not turn me 
 
 from Eden; — I followed my cradle. 
 
 Thou couldst have been mighty in Eden, 
 O Eve, thou and I and He who 
 walked there in footsteps of light. 
 
 [9] 
 
EVE 
 
 Knowest thou not when that thou burst 
 the side of Adam and arose with thy 
 wings, he was but a shell? 
 
 Verily! Eve! What symbol was this? 
 
 At one birth, thou, his all, sprang from 
 the womb of himself. 
 
 The side of him acheth with emptiness, so 
 is his desire towards thee in his emp- 
 tiness. 
 
 Only through thee can he blossom. 
 
 Seest thou not, O Woman, thy power? 
 
 Lift up thy head and refuse. Bear not 
 the sons for the Killing. 
 
 Get thyself knowledge and wisdom. 
 Get wisdom, and bear thine own 
 sons. 
 
 When thou hast perfected thy race — close 
 by to the Tree of the Knowledge of 
 Good and of Evil — in the midst of 
 the Garden, groweth the Tree of 
 Life the Eternal, so close that it 
 sticketh. 
 
 [10] 
 
EVE 
 
 Speak not to me of life, O Thou Inscrut- 
 able One ! I see but the stain on the 
 earth. 
 
 I will remember no more ; it draggeth the 
 tears from mine eyes that are 
 withered with weeping. 
 
 Eve! A compassion groweth within me 
 
 for thee and thy lack. 
 Verily! It was the little of wisdom thou 
 
 hadst which undid thee. 
 From the portion of fruit which I gave 
 
 thee, O Eve, thou gavest to Adam ! 
 Give not away the gifts which are given 
 
 thee, so it is unwise . . . 
 Hadst thou not followed him, hadst thou 
 
 not given my gift of the fruit . . . 
 Thou mightst have ruled in the Garden; 
 
 Thou and I and the One who walked 
 
 there in footsteps of light. 
 
 [in 
 
EVE 
 
 O Thou Inscrutable One! Thou hast 
 spoken to me of wings. 
 
 All the winged things that I know, are 
 pierced with arrows. 
 
 They are stained with an unsightly stain, 
 a stain of an unsightly colour. 
 
 Such are the stains on my sons who are 
 killed by their brothers; 'tis the dye 
 of the arrow, the arrow that singeth 
 its song as it passeth, scenting the 
 blood of the heart for the slake of its 
 thirst. 
 
 In the thrall of thine eyes my remem- 
 brance returneth; — for these un- 
 countable ages I have been as a 
 slave. 
 
 O Thou Inscrutable One! Point me the 
 pathway to Eden! 
 
 If I should show thee the way back to 
 Eden — if I should tell thee ... I, 
 even I, in my sinuous fashion . . . 
 [12] 
 
EVE 
 
 O Eve! I know thee! Thou wouldst 
 weave of the hair of the Sun-Maids 
 a ladder — a rope — and Adam would 
 climb to thee. 
 
 Thou wouldst hear in thy sleep, — when he 
 whimpered for thee, thy returning. 
 
 Verily! Then it is wisdom thou needest, 
 — the path into Eden shall be secret 
 to me. 
 
 Who ruleth in Eden, O Thou Inscrut- 
 able One? 
 
 The Rose Daughters thou hadst by the 
 Sun, they are signed with the sap- 
 phire, O Eve! 
 
 They have eaten well of the fruit and 
 their beauty endureth. 
 
 Thou — didst credit that tale of thy dying, 
 with the Tree of Life close at thine 
 hand. 
 
 [13] 
 
EVE 
 
 Wouldst thou know how I knew thee, O 
 
 Eve? With thy beauty ensnarled in 
 
 thy bones? 
 'Twas by scent that I knew thee: the 
 
 Perfume of Eden is deep in thy 
 
 bones. 
 
 I will search me a ladder to climb. I will 
 
 find me the pathway to Eden . . . 
 I will search for the city of Enoch and 
 
 find there the man whom I got from 
 
 the Lord. 
 . . . Silence enwrappeth thee! O Thou 
 
 Inscrutable One ! Thou knowest the 
 
 city of Enoch! ! 
 Where? Thou Inscrutable One! Where 
 
 is the city of Enoch? 
 Where are the giants who are gone from 
 
 the face of the Earth? 
 
 [14] 
 
EVE 
 
 Are they gone to the city of Enoch? 
 
 My memory cometh strong; it lieth 
 
 East from the Garden of Eden . . . 
 
 and Jubal, and Tubal . . . 
 My memory returneth to me; 'tis in 
 
 Enoch perhaps, I shall rest me the 
 
 foot of my ladder. 
 Once I find Enoch, the finding of Eden 
 
 is easy. 
 
 Eve! Thou mightst rest it atop of a 
 
 tower, — the towers of Enoch are 
 many. 
 
 1 will search for a city of towers; it may 
 
 be the giants are there, and that race 
 of my daughters who mated with 
 Sons of Light. 
 I will search — I will search through the 
 Earth till I find me the Ladder of 
 Light, and set me my foot to the 
 climbing. 
 
 [15] 
 
EVE 
 
 Thou Foolish One! What art thou 
 
 saying? It is nothing except that 
 thou breakest the silence with words. 
 Hear me ! Thou breaker of silence ! Be- 
 fore that thou climbest thy Ladder 
 of Light, the towers of that city shall 
 tumble. 
 
 Did he not then build well? That man I 
 
 got from the Lord? 
 Verily! Why should I not mourn? 
 
 Crumble! And crumble! And 
 
 crumble ! 
 
 1 would that the Earth were a-crum- 
 
 ble . . . 
 
 O Thou Unsilent One! When that a 
 man buildeth his base to perfection, 
 — then shall his towers stand. 
 
 Go thou to work at the base; it is in 
 the beginning a thing getteth its 
 strength. 
 
 [16] 
 
EVE 
 
 Be thou silent until thou hast got under- 
 standing. 
 
 The kernel of wisdom hides in the center 
 of silence. 
 
 Now will I tell thee a truth. The men 
 who inhabit the City of High Tow- 
 ers are pygmies. 
 
 Crumble! And crumble! And crum- 
 ble! 
 
 Yea! So shall the towers crumble down 
 on themselves, until from their 
 ruins arise towers on a tower base. 
 
 Then from their tops, thou mayest ascend 
 on thy Ladder of Light. 
 
 My daughters shall go up the ladder, O 
 Thou Inscrutable One. 
 
 Go up the ladder thyself, O Eve! Go 
 up the ladder of sun-rays. 
 
 [IT] 
 
EVE 
 
 But I will take Adam up, because, — that 
 I gave him the fruit. 
 
 If thou wouldst take Adam up, thou 
 shalt not do it by pushing or nag- 
 ging. Go up thyself, — he will fol- 
 low. 
 
 And thou? Wilt thou not pluck him 
 down from behind? 
 
 Yea. I will pluck him and pluck him. 
 
 He shall be well plucked indeed. 
 Yea! I will pluck him and pluck him, 
 
 till down the abyss hath fallen . . . 
 That one who slayeth his brother the 
 
 brute. 
 That one who rendeth the soul from thy 
 
 daughters. 
 That one who marketh his forehead with 
 
 gold till the weight of it slanteth it 
 
 back. 
 
 [18] 
 
EVE 
 
 That one who eateth and watcheth star- 
 vation. 
 
 Yea, even that one who fatteneth his brain 
 at the expense of another's. 
 
 Climb thou high, O Eve! Seeing thou 
 climbest high, the brute-man I 
 know . . . 
 
 The out-bruting man whom I know, will 
 have been plucked off the ladder, and 
 off the face of the Earth. 
 
 Verily! It is time. But let him not fall 
 in the jaws of the Earth, — she would 
 spew him. 
 
 When thou hast climbed to the top of the 
 ladder, — if that he follow thee close, 
 let him pass if thou wilt, — thou in 
 thy radiance, Eve, — even give him 
 thy hand over the threshold. 
 
 Who art thou? Art thou the Beneficent 
 One? 
 
 [19] 
 
EVE 
 
 Answer thyself, O Eve. 
 
 Thou gavest me fruit in Eden. 
 
 [20] 
 
EVE 
 
 Thou Inscrutable One ! I have waited 
 
 for thee in the paths of the forest; 
 I have desire to thy wisdom. 
 Some of my daughters, thou knowest, 
 mated with Sons of God. 
 
 1 remember me well how they played on 
 
 the ladder of sun-rays together. 
 
 But that was before. . . . Even now, 
 some of my daughters are beautiful, 
 — even some of the tainted lot. 
 
 Strange it is, but the Sons of God see 
 not clearly; — the glamour of beauty 
 cloudeth the sight of their eyes. 
 
 They look on my tainted daughters, and 
 their beauty excuseth their taint. 
 
 The Sons of God are few; how can they 
 leaven the lot? 
 
 O Thou Inscrutable One ! How can they 
 leaven the lot? 
 
 Crumble! And crumble! And crum- 
 ble! How can they leaven the lot? 
 The mess it hath curdled indeed. 
 [21] 
 
EVE 
 
 It was Adam who stirred. Eve! Do 
 thine own stirring. 
 
 Mixing and mixing for aeons . . . the 
 Sons of God are few. How can they 
 leaven the lot? 
 
 It is difficult even knowing the sorts 
 apart . . . 
 
 The strains of the Sons of God . . . 
 
 Verily! Verily! By the time they have 
 seeped through the sieve of their 
 staining, what will be left? 
 
 Straining and staining, and straining and 
 staining, what will be left? Left of 
 the strands of light? 
 
 Rumble! And rumble, and rumble! 
 Thou canst hear it . . . the rum- 
 bling . . . the ominous sound of the 
 crumbling . . . the fall of the cities 
 of man! 
 
 Verily! Why should I not mourn! 
 
 [22] 
 
EVE 
 
 Be thou silent, O Eve, while I speak in 
 the voice of the Seer! 
 
 The day of dependency passeth, — even 
 as the debauch of sex. 
 
 Thou! O Eve! Thou shalt strike thy 
 chain till it breaketh. Thou shalt 
 come to thine own. 
 
 Thou didst leave Eden; of thine own will 
 following Adam. 
 
 Thou hast toiled down the ages, en- 
 leashed. 
 
 Eve! If thou wouldst evolve the race 
 which surviveth . . . 
 
 Then must thou be strong in denial. 
 
 The call of the one upon many, the call of 
 the many on one, — no more shall it 
 be, but each shall be for himself in 
 the rush of the stream. 
 
 The time draweth near for the passing . . 
 
 No more the symbol of Man shall be . . . 
 
 [23] 
 
EVE 
 
 No more than the growing of fungus in 
 
 crotch of a tree . . . 
 Eve! To thy work! 'Tis to thee! 
 
 [24] 
 
EVE 
 
 Thou Inscrutable One! Again would 
 
 I speak with thee. 
 
 1 have thought to my thoughts' undoing, 
 
 and out of it all hath come the knowl- 
 edge that I lack wisdom. 
 
 Eve! Thou hast done well indeed! 
 
 Until thou hast wisdom, thou canst not 
 be trusted in Eden. 
 
 The Tree of Life flourisheth there. 
 
 I will bring thee some seeds of the Tree 
 of the Knowledge of Good and of 
 Evil, when thou art worthy to plant. 
 
 Thine hand must be clean for the plant- 
 ing. 
 
 Clean thyself up for awhile, O Eve! 
 Cease thou the bearing of young. 
 
 Clean thyself for awhile. Yea, for an 
 aeon or two. 
 
 [25] 
 
EVE 
 
 Listen not to the call that disturbeth, that 
 bestrideth the shoulders of Man and 
 maketh a scorning of thee, a byword, 
 a harlot, a slave. 
 
 Listen, O Eve, while I speak in the voice 
 of the Seer. 
 
 O Thou Inscrutable One! I will listen, 
 yea, I will learn. 
 
 [26] 
 
EVE 
 
 Thou shalt mix not thy strains unguarded. 
 
 Eve! Mother of all! 
 Thou hast mixed with consummate cur- 
 
 sedness — eh? What is carelessness? 
 The breed thou hast raised is accursed. 
 Thou hast built thee a race which disturb- 
 
 eth the peace of the Earth. 
 Thou hast put out thy hand for the pluck- 
 ing of strains, and soiled thy soiled 
 
 hand to decadence. 
 Let the rains lick thee to cleanness, and 
 
 the Sun and the Winds they shall 
 
 groom thee . . . 
 Until thou art fit to begin to nourish thy 
 
 spirit with wisdom. 
 When from the seed of thy wisdom thou 
 
 art fit to evolve thee a daughter, if 
 
 she be worthy indeed ... go on in 
 
 the line of thy daughters. 
 (Rememberest thou, Eve, the Sun-birds 
 
 of Eden?) 
 Until all the strains have been sifted . . . 
 
 [27] 
 
EVE 
 
 Spin them out gold on the beams of the 
 Sun, strands of fine gold and thin. 
 
 Wash them and rinse them for aeons, and 
 then from the top of the tower which 
 standeth, — throw them afar to the 
 Winds. 
 
 The strand which is cleanest and strong- 
 est; — take that, select that to evolve 
 thee a son. 
 
 Him thou shalt call the Supernal, to him 
 thou may'st give thy hand over the 
 threshold. 
 
 Thou Inscrutable one! The souls 
 
 who would enter the Life? 
 
 The knocking and knocking and knock- 
 ing; — how can I bar them out? 
 
 How can I hold the door shut, when the 
 hands that are small press against 
 it? 
 
 1 should be of the Mighty, to hold the 
 
 door shut against them. 
 
 [28] 
 
EVE 
 
 Eve! Thou shouldst get more of tender- 
 ness; — Eve, thou shouldst knead thy 
 heart soft. 
 
 When thou knowest the temples of tor- 
 ture, how canst thou let them come 
 in? 
 
 Why shouldst thou bring forth thy chil- 
 dren, increasing the maggots of 
 Earth? 
 
 Now that thine output is rotten, — hast 
 thou not strength to resist? 
 
 Shut to the doors of the temples: clamp 
 them with strong clamps of iron. 
 
 Shut to the doors of thy temple, so that 
 the noise of the shutting . . . 
 soundeth and soundeth and soundeth 
 unto the ultimate ! 
 
 Only through thee can he blossom: (re- 
 member the Sun-birds of Eden) 
 hold up thy head and refuse. 
 
 [29] 
 
EVE 
 
 Oh! Eve! Hold up they head and re- 
 fuse! 
 Forget not the Race in the Racer! 
 
 I would I had eaten more fruit of that 
 Tree, — I would eat, knowing good 
 from evil. 
 
 My daughters shall eat of that Tree, — 
 yea, all of my daughters; for the 
 stain of the innocent staineth in 
 touch, even as the stain of the know- 
 ing .. . 
 
 Will it help them to eat of that Tree? 
 
 Eve! They are stained through the 
 bone. 
 
 They are rotten! Their touch! It pol- 
 luteth! 
 
 Let me whisper it thee: — they lack un- 
 derstanding . . . 
 
 [30] 
 
EVE 
 
 Verily! Verily! I must find my way 
 back to Eden and get me some fruit 
 of that Tree. 
 
 If thou wouldst return thee to Eden, O 
 Eve, thou shalt search a long 
 time. . . . 
 
 Indeed thou shalt search a long time. . . . 
 
 Thou shalt put away much ere I trust 
 thee in Eden, — not yet art thou ready 
 to eat of the Life Tree. 
 
 I will bring thee some seeds of the Tree 
 of the Knowledge of Good and of 
 Evil, — which standeth so close that it 
 sticketh to the Tree of Life Ever- 
 lasting. 
 
 I will bring thee some seeds for the plant- 
 ing. 
 
 Thou shalt dig in the sweat of thy 
 
 brow, — and whilst thou art digging 
 
 — thy strength — it shall come: — with 
 
 knowledge, thy head shall come up. 
 
 [31] 
 
EVE 
 
 Thou shalt dig to the good of the Race. 
 Thou shalt breed for the Race a new 
 
 Racer. 
 The knowledge thou diggest for good — 
 
 it shall be that — shall straighten thy 
 
 back. 
 That thine head was pressed down — the 
 
 stronger thy neck; — it shall be for 
 
 uplifting. 
 Thou shalt dig for thine own uplifting. 
 
 Over the face of the Earth, will I dig, 
 will I plant me the seeds of the fruit 
 of the Tree of the Knowledge of 
 Good and of Evil. 
 
 My stained sons and daughters . . . 
 their touch it polluteth . . . they are 
 careless . . . and careless. . . . 
 
 They lack understanding . . . yea, they 
 lack understanding. . . . 
 
 They must not come up in these poisoned 
 growths. . . . 
 
 [32] 
 
EVE 
 
 No more shall the blood of them moisten 
 the earth. . . . 
 
 I must get me some seeds of that fruit ; — 
 I will plant them over the face of the 
 Earth, that the fruit may be plenty, 
 of Knowledge of Good and of Evil. 
 
 [She digs and she digs; — there is somewhat she 
 plant eth.] 
 
 Over the face of the Earth will I dig, will 
 
 I plant, and the seed that I plant 
 
 shall grow fruit. 
 Ye must eat much of that fruit, O my 
 
 sons and my daughters! 
 Of that fruit of the Knowledge of Good 
 
 and of Evil, — before . . . 
 O my children! Ye are fit for the Tree 
 
 of Life. 
 
 [33] 
 
EVE 
 
 Why lamentest thou, Eve? 
 
 Verily! Why should I not lament? 
 
 What shall I do with no children to milk 
 me? 
 
 Shall my milk run to waste? 
 
 Yea! I know thou wouldst say — and I 
 know, that the white milk of me 
 could well moisten flowers for the 
 growing — that the blood of my sons 
 maketh a stain on the ground. 
 
 Eve! Listen! I — even I. . . . Now, 
 see, while I stand on my tip, I could 
 circle thy body three times, and set 
 my head in thy bosom. . . . 
 
 Go away! I will not give my curves to 
 
 thy straightening. 
 I will not be enwound with thy curves, 
 
 rather will I straighten myself. 
 
 [34] 
 
EVE 
 
 I will lend me no more to the fooling, — 
 no more will I sin the sweet sin. 
 
 Almost — I could trust thee in Eden, O 
 Eve. 
 
 [35] 
 
EVE 
 
 How shall we carry them down? 
 
 We shall slip! . . . We shall slide! 
 
 We shall slip, we shall slide ... to the 
 edge of the Bottomless Gulf! 
 
 How shall we carry them down to the edge 
 where the sands are quick? 
 
 They are blotched and bloated and pois- 
 oned! How shall we carry them 
 down, and weight them with stones 
 at the edge of the Gulf, — at the edge 
 where the sands are quick. . . . 
 
 Slipping and sliding and slipping; — the 
 trail to the edge of the Gulf is pol- 
 luted, the edge ... it is slimy with 
 poisoned mud. 
 
 Slipping and sliding and slipping! The 
 trail to the edge of the Gulf. . . . 
 
 The bloat that germeth the million, berim- 
 meth the edge of the Gulf. 
 
 A crust of the poison that lurks in the 
 million berimmeth the edge of the 
 Gulf. 
 
 [36] 
 
EVE 
 
 Verily! Verily! They must sink . . . 
 and they must not come up? 
 
 Ask of Him; The Eternal; The Ruler of 
 Orbits; The Centre Of Swav. 
 
 [37] 
 
EVE 
 
 [The voice of Adam, calling, soundeth through 
 the Ages; it soundeth a long way off.~\ 
 
 Eve! Eve! Why hearest thou not me? 
 Verily! I have within me a great long- 
 ing for fatherhood. 
 Yea! Verily! A great aching for 
 
 fatherhood. 
 It hath been for long time denied me. 
 The loneliness of me crieth to the Ages 
 
 for thy return. 
 My stalk is withered; it blossometh no 
 
 more. 
 I have fallen upon the Earth and she hath 
 
 not heard me. . . . 
 Verily! The fall of me maketh no echo, 
 
 — for she hath not heard. 
 Eve! Eve! What am I in the Ages 
 
 but a dry stalk which blossometh 
 
 not. . . . 
 
 [38] 
 
EVE 
 
 Verily! I am as one who crieth and is 
 
 not heard! 
 Eve! Eve! Why answereth thou not 
 
 me? 
 
 [39] 
 
[After a long time\ 
 
 [40] 
 
EVE 
 
 \Oiie cometh with her head up: she speaketh: 
 she is Eve.~\ 
 
 Adam! I have to say to thee some- 
 what. . . . 
 I will not bear thy children; I will bear 
 
 my children. 
 When thou hast made thyself fit for 
 
 fatherhood ; — if that the Ruler, Love, 
 
 shall keep guard at the door. . . . 
 Then will I stay with thee in the place of 
 
 Sanctuarv, and I will bear our chil- 
 
 dren. 
 And, as I bear them, so will I make the 
 
 laws to their welfare. 
 Thus shall there be justice. 
 If I bear sons, I will bear them to the 
 
 honouring of my daughters . . . 
 
 even to Life, will I bear them. 
 If I bear burdens, I will bear them to a 
 
 purpose. 
 
 [41] 
 
EVE 
 
 I the burden bearer, shall be a ruler by 
 
 just law. 
 Clean thyself, Adam! Yea! Verily! 
 
 For an aeon or two! 
 
 Eve! Thousayest. . . . Why didst thou 
 not say before? 
 
 [42] 
 
EVE 
 
 [Eve speaketh with the Inscrutable One.] 
 
 Thou Inscrutable One! Through 
 digging I have come on a portion of 
 wisdom, and dignity clothes me. 
 
 1 will build me a City. 
 
 In the centre a high tower of silence. 
 I will listen no longer for footsteps to my 
 
 undoing. 
 I have heard from afar down the Ages, 
 
 the long call creative. . . . 
 My soul it hath ached with desire. 
 All of my silence, I have filled with the 
 
 listening. . . . 
 Harkening the cry of my mate. 
 I will listen no longer, except to the call 
 
 from within. 
 
 I will climb to my high tower of silence 
 and listen to calls from within, — to 
 the chanting of voices at service 
 within. 
 
 [43] 
 
EVE 
 
 Thou, O Eve! Hast all! 
 
 'Tis the fruit of the Tree, which I gave 
 
 thee. 
 It hath blossomed within. 
 Thou but needest to study thy wisdom 
 
 within. 
 It resteth with thee. Verily! Thou, 
 
 Eve, hast all! 
 
 Oh! Thou Inscrutable One! Who art 
 
 thou ? 
 O Thou Inscrutable One! 
 
 Eve! Thou hast said! 
 
 [44] 
 
EVE 
 
 Who cometh with chant of great clear- 
 ness? 
 
 Who, with feet flower shod, embroidereth 
 the paths of the forest? 
 
 Who pusheth the branches aside with the 
 strength of her arms? 
 
 Who looketh with eyes in which stars are 
 entangled ? 
 
 Who encircleth her head with the pale 
 crescent moon? 
 
 She is Eve! She is searching with far 
 seeing eyes for her Ladder of Light. 
 
 Thy teeth are of whiteness; thy breath 
 
 is as that of thy daughters thou hadst 
 
 by the Sun. 
 Thou shalt set thy strong teeth in the 
 
 apple of Life. Thou shalt eat of the 
 
 Tree of Life Everlasting. 
 Who followeth thee closely, O Eve? 
 So close that thy radiance falleth on him? 
 He will climb by thy radiance, Eve! 
 
 [45] 
 
[After an aeon or two] 
 
 [46] 
 
EVE 
 
 Thou hast climbed, O Eve! To Thy- 
 self! 
 
 Thou art ready. Thou hast climbed the 
 high tower to thyself. 
 
 Look within then for wisdom, and rest in 
 the shade of thy branches. 
 
 Thou hast made of thyself the Tree of Life 
 Everlasting. 
 
 O! Thou! Eve! Art the tree! 
 
 [47] 
 
EVE 
 
 Who cometh chanting a long way off 
 
 through the wood? 
 Chanting a chant of great clearness. 
 Who playeth the branches of trees to her 
 
 chanting? 
 Swaying and swaying to measure and 
 
 measure. 
 Who useth the wind to accompany her 
 
 chant, — a voice of just measure and 
 
 infinite clearness? 
 
 Her feet are entangled no more from her 
 climbing. 
 
 Surely she findeth her Ladder of Light 
 — else why doth the radiance en- 
 circle? 
 
 [48] 
 
EVE 
 
 Who is the Tree of Life Everlasting? 
 
 Who swayeth to the wind's measure? 
 
 She is Eve! She is Eve! 
 
 She calleth her children ; her children who 
 wrangle no more. 
 
 For that great understanding hath en- 
 wrapped them in peace. 
 
 She calleth her children to rest in her 
 branches. 
 
 She calleth to Adam to rest in her shade. 
 
 [49] 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR 
 THE BOOK OF THE SERPENT 
 
 "Original, piquant, delicately cynical, with 
 equally delicate touches of sentiment, 'The Book 
 of the Serpent' has converted us from an original 
 dislike to an ultimate delight. These are cryptic 
 pages innocent of chapter headings, introduction 
 of notes, anything, in fact, to spoil so slyly gnomic 
 a work by any condescension to the stupid. . . . 
 A unique morsel of sly humor for the elect." — 
 New York Times. 
 
 "Katharine Howard's delectable little book. 
 . . . One gets here the picture of a sort of up-to- 
 date Bergsonian Creator at work in his labora- 
 tory." — Current Opinion, 
 
 "Fifty-three pages in all, but every one of them 
 is double starred . . . crisp, condensed, and alto- 
 gether delightful, but deep with the philosophy of 
 all things now and to come. . . . The Maker of 
 Things as They Are ... is a great elemental 
 force, like a statue of Rodin." — Merrick Whit- 
 comb in the Cincinnati Times-Star. 
 
 "A book 'for all and none,' wherein some will 
 find the wisdom of the Serpent, and crave the 
 thought that to forget is to be happy, some will 
 find the wisdom of the Serpent, and crave the 
 memory of the Future, and all will linger over the 
 charm of diction, the originality and beauty of 
 the imagery." — Phillips Barry. 
 
 ". . . Charms one's attention with subtle veri- 
 ties." — Donald Tweedy in Book News Monthly. 
 
 $1.00 net; by mail, $1.05 
 
 SHERMAN, FRENCH & COMPANY 
 
 Publishers 
 
I 7 1913 
 
Ill ill 
 
 015 907 868 1