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| The "weighing of the heart," from the book of the dead of Hunefer. Anubis is portrayed as both guiding the deceased forward and manipulating the scales, under the scrutiny of the ibis-headed Thoth. |
Hamlet at Night
Hubs, haystack poles, and trees to the moon
are they a worship temple to ancient Anubis(*),
or a gloomy ruin? The clouds cast a dark
shadow
on the countryside, and deeper and fuller,
on the strange rubble, the night is pressing,
hidden from sight, where a chained dog
is whining.
There on the horizon is the golden scythe:
little by little is painting two black spires,
from there, I know not what so pure white. Is it the white
front of a sphinx?
(*) Anubis: (Ancient Greek: Ἄνουβις) or Anpu is the Greek name of a god associated with mummification and the afterlife in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depicted as a canine or a man with a canine head.
Paese notturno
Capanne e stolli ed alberi alla luna
sono, od un tempio dell’antico Anubi,
fosca rovina? Stampano una bruna
orma le nubi
su la campagna, e più profonda e piena
la notte preme le macerie strane,
chiuse allo sguardo, dove alla catena
uggiola un cane.
Ecco la falce d’oro all’orizzonte:
due nere guglie a man a man dipinge,
indi non so che candido. Una fronte
bianca di sfinge?
