more stumbling through ancient poetry

[radiantfracture]

As usual, true scholars, please forgive my dilettante's sense of discovery over things you have always known.

When searching for some examples of "pleasing the heart" as erotic joy, as per sovay's information, I arrived at this (in the ETCSL).


I understand this to be a hymn¹ (for/in the voice of?) Inanna. (Emphasis mine.)

A love song of Shu-Suen

Man of my heart, my beloved man, your allure is a sweet thing, as sweet as honey. Lad of my heart, my beloved man, your allure is a sweet thing, as sweet as honey.

You have captivated me, of my own free will I will come to you. Man, let me flee with you -- into the bedroom. You have captivated me; of my own free will I shall come to you. Lad, let me flee with you -- into the bedroom.

Man, let me do the sweetest things to you. My precious sweet, let me bring you honey. In the bedchamber dripping with honey let us enjoy over and over your allure, the sweet thing. Lad, let me do the sweetest things to you. My precious sweet, let me bring you honey.

Man, you have become attracted to me. Speak to my mother and I will give myself to you; speak to my father and he will make a gift of me. I know where to give physical pleasure to your body -- sleep, man, in our house till morning. I know how to bring heart's delight to your heart -- sleep, lad, in our house till morning.

Since you have fallen in love with me, lad, if only you would do your sweet thing to me.

My lord and god, my lord and guardian angel, my Cu-Suen who cheers Enlil's heart, if only you would handle your sweet place, if only you would grasp your place that is sweet as honey.

Put your hand there for me like the cover on a measuring cup. Spread your hand there for me like the cover on a cup of wood shavings.²

* * * * * *

First of all, that is hot.

Second, I may lack ancient lore but I do have highly attuned, if slightly rusty, gaydar, and "my lord and god, my lord and guardian angel, my Cu-Suen who cheers Enlil's heart" sure seems kind of queer, especially in this context.

Following that path takes me to A Hymn to Cu-Suen, which reads much more as "Cu-Suen, What a Guy."

Anyway, fun.

§rf§

1. Well, a balbale, but the immediate internet is of limited use in defining this except as a form that uses variety in repetition.

2. For those interested, the transliterated Sumerian given for this phrase is ^dcu-^dsuen cag₄ ^dmu-ul-lil₂-la₂-ke₄ ba-ze2-be₂-en-na-ju₁₀.

I assume the subscript numbers refer to different versions of the cuneiform character. I dunno about the superscript d.

Comments

[sovay]

Man, let me do the sweetest things to you. My precious sweet, let me bring you honey. In the bedchamber dripping with honey let us enjoy over and over your allure, the sweet thing. Lad, let me do the sweetest things to you. My precious sweet, let me bring you honey.

That is stupefyingly hot and even allowing for the ventriloquism of Inanna, makes me think immediately of the Klezmatics' "Honikzaft" (1992), their legendary m/m Yiddish version of the Song of Songs:

Honikzaft dripn dayne lipn, honik un milkh iz unter dayne tsung. Shtey dir af, mayn gelibter, mayn sheyner, un kum dir, kum gelibter mayn, lomir aroysgehen in feld. Shtey dir af, mayn gelibter, mayn sheyner, un kum dir, dortn vel ikh gebn mayn libshaft tsu dir.

"Your lips are dripping with honey-juice, honey and milk are under your tongue. Rise up, my beloved, my beauty, and come here, come, my beloved, out into the field. Rise up, my beloved, my beauty, and come here, there I will give my love to you."

Second, I may lack ancient lore but I do have highly attuned, if slightly rusty, gaydar, and "my lord and god, my lord and guardian angel, my Cu-Suen who cheers Enlil's heart" sure seems kind of queer, especially in this context.

+1.

I assume the subscript numbers refer to different versions of the cuneiform character.

Yes. They distinguish the different writings of the same-sounding syllable. As opposed to the different meanings of the same-written character, just to shake another piece around in the puzzle-box.

I dunno about the superscript d.

That is the standard transliteration of DIĜIR/DINGIR (𒀭), the Sumerian sign for divinity which is employed as a determinative to indicate that the word which follows is a divine name. Inanna's own name would be written 𒀭𒈹 and transliterated ^dINANA.

I'm so glad you found this!

[larryhammer]

Your first of all is entirely correct. I counted. Twice.