There are stories
Dante -Beowolf - Irish tales
This is something different

This preceded those others
Is the first story of the world
In the world before the world

You don't believe me?
Then listen and judge

The beginning? What is the beginning?
It begins with words in mist
In fire, in stone
In the memory of a people entering history as myth

Listen
This one knew everything and declared it to the world
This one knew the mysteries and all that was hidden
He could also relate the knowledge from before the flood
He was fond of journeys -beyond the known and unknown
He carved his name and story in stone

He is, you understand, superb in his person and actions
And why shouldn't he be?
Is he not two thirds god and one third man-
A trinity unto himself?

Such persons build cities -he built Uruk
Intricate stone and several gates
A wonder in a world full of wonders
The foundations going deep into the earth
And growing outward into the lives of his people

Here he carves his story
Here he make sure that he is renowned for what he is-
A god, a king, a total man
A force that has no equal in the world
Forerunner of the remarkable
The first living example of the superb in action

Yet he is not always superb in his dealings
He can be cruel, he can oppress,
He can be as sly as the snake and as mild as the dove
He is, you understand, many things in one
And not all of them likable