# Eden bower (Dante Gabriel Rossetti)

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* Eden bower
* It was Lilith the wife of Adam:
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* Not a drop of her blood was human,
* But she was made like a soft sweet woman.
* Lilith stood on the skirts of Eden;
* (And O the bower of the hour!)
* She was the first that thence was driven;
* With her was hell and with Eve was heaven.
* In the ear of the Snake said Lilith : —
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* 'To thee I come when the rest is over;
* A snake was I when thou wast my lover.
* 'I was the fairest snake in Eden:
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* By the earth's will, new form and feature
* Made me a wife for the earth's new creature.
* 'Take me thou as I come from Adam:
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* Once again shall my love subdue thee;
* The past is past and I am come to thee.
* 'O but Adam was thrall to Lilith!
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* All the threads of my hair are golden,
* And there in a net his heart was holden.
* 'O and Lilith was queen of Adam!
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* All the day and the night together
* My breath could shake his soul like a feather.
* 'What great joys had Adam and Lilith! —
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* Sweet close rings of the serpent's twining,
* As heart in heart lay sighing and pining.
* What bright babes had Adam and Lilith! —
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* Shapes that coiled in the woods and waters,
* Glittering sons and radiant daughters.
* 'O thou God, the Lord God of Eden!
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* Say, was this fair body for no man,
* That of Adam's flesh thou mak'st him a woman?
* 'O thou Snake, the King-snake of Eden!
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* God's strong will our necks are under,
* But thou and I may cleave it in sunder.
* 'Help, sweet Snake, sweet lover of Lilith!
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* And let God learn how I loved and hated
* Man in the image of God created.
* 'Help me once against Eve and Adam!
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* Help me once for this one endeavour,
* And then my love shall be thine for ever!
* 'Strong is God, the fell foe of Lilith:
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* Nought in heaven or earth may affright him;
* But join thou with me and we will smite him.
* 'Strong is God, the great God of Eden:
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* Over all he made he hath power;
* But lend me thou thy shape for an hour!
* 'Lend thy shape for the love of Lilith!
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* Look, my mouth and cheek are ruddy,
* And thou art cold, and fire is my body.
* 'Lend thy shape for the hate of Adam!
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* That he may wail my joy that forsook him,
* And curse the day when the bride-sleep took him.
* 'Lend thy shape for the shame of Eden!
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* Is not the foe-God weak as the foeman
* When love grows hate in the heart of a woman?
* 'Would'st thou know the heart's hope of Lilith?
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* Then bring thou close thine head till it glisten
* Along my breast, and lip me and listen.
* 'Am I sweet, O sweet Snake of Eden?
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* Then ope thine ear to my warm mouth's cooing
* And learn what deed remains for our doing.
* 'Thou didst hear when God said to Adam: —
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* "Of all this wealth I have made thee warden;
* Thou'rt free to eat of the trees of the garden:
* '"Only of one tree eat not in Eden;
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* All save one I give to thy freewill,--
* The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil."
* 'O my love, come nearer to Lilith!
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* In thy sweet folds bind me and bend me,
* And let me feel the shape thou shalt lend me!
* 'In thy shape I'll go back to Eden;
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* In these coils that Tree will I grapple,
* And stretch this crowned head forth by the apple.
* 'Lo, Eve bends to the breath of Lilith!
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* O how then shall my heart desire
* All her blood as food to its fire!
* 'Lo, Eve bends to the words of Lilith! —
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* "Nay, this Tree's fruit, — why should ye hate it,
* Or Death be born the day that ye ate it?
* '"Nay, but on that great day in Eden,
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* By the help that in this wise Tree is,
* God knows well ye shall be as He is."
* 'Then Eve shall eat and give unto Adam;
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* And then they both shall know they are naked,
* And their hearts ache as my heart hath ached.
* 'Aye, let them hide in the trees of Eden,
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* As in the cool of the day in the garden
* God shall walk without pity or pardon.
* 'Hear, thou Eve, the man's heart in Adam!
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* Of his brave words hark to the bravest: —
* "This the woman gave that thou gavest."
* 'Hear Eve speak, yea, list to her, Lilith!
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* Feast thine heart with words that shall sate it —
* "This the serpent gave and I ate it."
* 'O proud Eve, cling close to thine Adam,
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* Driven forth as the beasts of his naming
* By the sword that for ever is flaming.
* 'Know, thy path is known unto Lilith!
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* While the blithe birds sang at thy wedding,
* There her tears grew thorns for thy treading.
* 'O my love, thou Love-snake of Eden!
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* O to-day and the day to come after!
* Loose me, love, — give breath to my laughter!
* 'O bright Snake, the Death-worm of Adam!
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* Wreathe thy neck with my hair's bright tether,
* And wear my gold and thy gold together!
* 'On that day on the skirts of Eden,
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* In thy shape shall I glide back to thee,
* And in my shape for an instant view thee.
* 'But when thou'rt thou and Lilith is Lilith,
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* In what bliss past hearing or seeing
* Shall each one drink of the other's being!
* 'With cries of "Eve!" and "Eden!" and "Adam!"
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* How shall we mingle our love's caresses,
* I in thy coils, and thou in my tresses!
* 'With those names, ye echoes of Eden,
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* Fire shall cry from my heart that burneth, —
* "Dust he is and to dust returneth!"
* 'Yet to-day, thou master of Lilith, —
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* Wrap me round in the form I'll borrow
* And let me tell thee of sweet to-morrow.
* 'In the planted garden eastward in Eden,
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* Where the river goes forth to water the garden,
* The springs shall dry and the soil shall harden.
* 'Yea, where the bride-sleep fell upon Adam,
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* None shall hear when the storm-wind whistles
* Through roses choked among thorns and thistles.
* 'Yea, beside the east-gate of Eden,
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* Where God joined them and none might sever,
* The sword turns this way and that for ever.
* 'What of Adam cast out of Eden?
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* Lo! with care like a shadow shaken,
* He tills the hard earth whence he was taken.
* 'What of Eve too, cast out of Eden?
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* Nay, but she, the bride of God's giving,
* Must yet be mother of all men living.
* 'Lo, God's grace, by the grace of Lilith!
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* To Eve's womb, from our sweet to-morrow,
* God shall greatly multiply sorrow.
* 'Fold me fast, O God-snake of Eden!
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* What more prize than love to impel thee?
* Grip and lip my limbs as I tell thee!
* 'Lo! two babes for Eve and for Adam!
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
* Lo! sweet Snake, the travail and treasure, —
* Two men-children born for their pleasure!
* 'The first is Cain and the second Abel:
* (Eden bower's in flower.)
* The soul of one shall be made thy brother,
* And thy tongue shall lap the blood of the other."
* (And O the bower and the hour!)
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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