The Soul's Address to the Body

I

Verily it behoves every man that he himself should ponder his soul's state, how sound that is, when death comes, sunders the union which existed before, body and soul. Long is it after that till the soul receives from God Himself either bale or bliss, even as the body won for it erstwhile on earth. The spirit, the soul, shall come, loud in its sorrows, always on the seventh night, for three hundred years, to find the body which long since it wore, unless ere that the great King, Almighty God, the Lord of lords, will bring the end of the world. Then, most woeful, it will cry in a cold voice; the soul will speak sternly to the dust:

"What hast thou done, sorrowful one? What affliction hast thou caused me; the foulness of earth falls all to ruin, like unto clay. Little didst thou think what thing thy soul should afterwards become when freed from the body. What hadst thou to blame in me, accursed? Lo! thou didst little think to be the food of worms, when thou didst follow all the lures of pleasure; now in the earth thou shalt feed worms. Lo! in the world before little didst thou think how long this lasts. Lo! the Lord almighty by His own hand sent thee a soul by an angel from the heavens on high from His majesty and bought thee with the holy blood; and thou didst bind me with grievous hunger and fetter me with hell-torments. I dwelt within thee; compassed by flesh I could not come out of thee, and thy sinful lusts lay heavy upon me, so that full often it seemed to me that it would be thirty thousand years till thy death-day; ever with pain I waited till we two should part. Verily the end now is not overgood. Thou wert proud in thy food and glutted with wine; thou wert gloriously daring, and I was athirst for the body of God, for spiritual drink. Wherefore here in life, when I was forced to dwell in thee in the world, thou didst not think that thou wert sorely troubled by flesh and sinful lusts; and upheld by me; and I was a soul sent to thee from God. Thou didst never guard me with the lust of thy desires against hell-torments so grievous; thou shalt suffer the disgrace of my shame on the great day when the Only Begotten shall gather together all the race of mankind. Thou art not more dear as a comrade to any living man, neither mother, nor father, nor any kinsman, than the dark raven, since I passed out from thee alone, by the hand of Him who formerly sent me. Henceforth they cannot take from thee the golden ornaments, neither gold nor silver, nor aught of thy gauds, nor thy bride's circlet, nor thy wealth, nor any possessions which formerly thou didst own. But here thy bones shall bide, stripped bare, snatched away from sins; and I thy soul against my will shall often seek thee, revile thee with words, as thou didst unto me. Now art thou dumb and deaf; thy joys are naught; yet perforce I shall seek thee by night, stricken with sins, and straightway leave thee again at cock-crow, when holy men lift up a song of praise to the living God, and seek my abode which thou didst appoint me here, and my cruel dwelling-place; and here many earthworms shall gnaw thee, dark creatures, ravenous and greedy, grievously rend thee. Thy follies are fled which here on earth thou didst flaunt before men. Wherefore it would be better for thee by far, than that all the wealth of the world were thine, save thou didst give it to God Himself, if thou at the beginning hadst become a fowl, or a fish in the sea, or toiled for food as a beast on earth, as cattle wandering in the field without wisdom, or the fiercest of wild animals in the wilderness, if God had thus willed it, and even though thou hadst been the basest of worms, than ever thou hadst become a man on earth or ever received baptism, when thou must answer for us both on the great day, when the wounds shall be revealed to men which long ago sinners wrought in the world. Then will the Lord Himself, the Creator of the heavens, hear the deeds of every man from the speech of all men's mouths, requital for wounds; but what wilt thou say then to the Lord on the Day of Judgment? Then shall there be no joint so small in a limb, but for each separately thou shalt pay the penalty when the Lord is stern at the Judgment. But what shall we twain do when He has made us to be born once again? Then together we shall suffer such miseries as formerly thou didst decree for us."

Thus it reviles the body; then it must needs depart, afflicted by deeds, seek the abyss of hell, by no means the joys of heaven. The dust lies where it was; it can return no answer, nor offer then any refuge, aid, or solace to the sorrowful soul.

The head is cleft, hands disjointed, jaws gaping, mouth rent open; sinews are slackened, the neck gnawed through, fingers decayed, feet broken; zealous worms strip the ribs; thirsty for blood, they drink the corpse in swarms; the tongue is torn in ten parts for the pleasure of the hungry; wherefore it cannot wisely exchange words with the unhappy spirit. The worm is called glutton, whose jaws are sharper than a needle; it ventures to the grave first of all, so that it tears the tongue, and pierces the teeth, and from above eats through the eyes into the head, and opens the way for other worms to food, to high feasting, when the weary body grows cold which erstwhile for long he guarded with garments. Then it is the food and sustenance of worms in the earth. To every wise man that may be a warning.

II

More joyous is it then when the holy soul, encompassed by solace, goes to the flesh; that message is found happier for the heart. Gladly with delight it seeks the body wherein long since it dwelt. Then the spirits, wise, triumphant, utter good speeches, and in truth thus gladly they greet the body: "Dearest friend! though the eager worms are yet busy about thee, now I, thy soul, have come, fairly adorned, to my Father's kingdom, surrounded with mercies. Alas! my lord! could I but take thee with me so that we twain should behold all the angels, likewise the glory of the heavens, as erstwhile thou didst appoint for me! Thou didst fast on earth, and didst fill me with God's body, the drink of the spirit; if thou wert in poverty, thou gavest me abundance of things I craved. Wherefore no cause hast thou to be ashamed of what thou gavest me, when the sinful and the righteous are sundered on the great day; nor needst thou repent in the meeting-place of men and angels of all thou didst give me in life. Thou didst humble thyself before men and exalt thyself to eternal joy; wherefore, dearest of men, regret lies ever heavy on my heart, for that I know thee to be in these miseries, a food for worms. But it was God's will that thy portion should thus ever be the hateful grave. I would tell thee then not to be troubled, for we two shall be gathered together at God's Judgment. Then afterwards we can rejoice, and be exalted in heaven; we need not be troubled at the Lord's coming, nor have grievous sorrow at heart as to our answer, but we ourselves can exult in our deeds at the Judgment, in what merits were ours. I know that thou in the world wert gloriously exalted of this . . ."

[The end of the poem is missing.]