Hymns of Creation

(Based on the various translation and commentaries of the first lines of Genesis.)

I.

At first in principiation,
The Being of beings brought forth
The self-sameness of the Heavens,
The self-sameness of the earth.

The earth in potential becoming,
Darkness was on the face of the deep,
The Spirit of God on the waters,
The waters still resting in sleep.

The Lord opened his mouth resounding
The Ineffable Word of His might,
Declaring His Will as He uttered:
“Let Light become,” and was Light.

The Lord then made a division,
When He noticed how good was this Light,
Through motion He caused an incision,
Creating the Day and the Night.

The Night came from Breath’s contraction,
The first thing in all creation,
While Day shone from Breath’s expansion,
And thus appeared manifestation.

II.

Sing thou the song of the mighty abyss,
Ere time or space or thought,
Where dwelt His being and He alone,
Eternal and Almighty Lord.

Love drew Him forth from the mighty abyss,
Love beyond comprehension,
In silence dwelt He in solitude,
Until from His bosom sprang Love.

III.

From the deepest clefts of Erebus,
From the center of vastness of space,
A Thought came into being,

And that Thought was the Word.
The face of the Word was effulgent,
The very sun of our sun,
And light and sound and time began;
God spake—and it was done.

While Heavens and earth were yet unmade,
When man had not been born,
And Seraphim and Cherubim
Had not been given form,
The only begotten Son of God
(Who dwells within you and me),
Sought through the vastness and planned the world,
Ere dawn had kissed the sea.

IV.

The earth was not in being,
There was darkness on the deep,
And stillness over the waters,
When the Lord awoke from sleep.

He drew an inward cosmic breath,
He sighed a lonely sigh,
Creation rose from out of death
In the midst of the only I.

He spoke, declaring forth His Will:
“Light be,” and Light was made,
And glory did the Cosmos fill
In beauty all arrayed.

The heavens sprang from the waters above,
From the waters below, the earth,
Conceived in Wisdom, though His Love,
Creation appeared in birth.

V.

I stood upon principiation’s brink,
Before the sea and sky and stars were made;
I quaffed ambrosia when they bade me drink,
And faced the threatening storm-clouds unafraid.

I saw the mountains rise from densest gloom,
The rain of Heaven pouring at my feet,
Chaos, though conquered, bravely faced its doom,
And all the gods arose, the Dawn to greet.

Bold Indra hurled his thunder-bolt, and back
The lightning flash, the sun appeared
And traced its sempiternal track,
While all the hosts of Maruts came and cheered.

The Titans were chained and Darkness lost its head,
The Day triumphant smiled upon us all,
The swarms of evil elementals fled,
And Brahma transfigured held the world in thrall.

One day; the next continued in her place,
The rolling tides of cosmic forces fell
And rose in rhythm with the utmost grace
From spheres supernal down to lowest hell.

I saw the gods assemble on the heights,
Direct the masses peering from below;
The steady stream of transcendental lights
Illumined the whole earth with their brilliant glow.

I glanced across that once fearful abyss,
I saw the vanquished Demon disappear,
That Love had mastered Chaos with her kiss,
And all the Universe enter Love’s sphere.

VI.

Creation really never was:
It has existed through Eternity.
There is only a beginning of Wisdom,
The end of our night of foolishness,
With the dawning of our Intelligence.
There is a chaotic condition of Mind,
Till it comes to enlightenment,
Perhaps in a twinkling of an eye,
Perhaps imperceptibly through the ages.
What the Mind cannot perceive has always been,
Where the Mind holds sceptered sway has known no birth,
But the light of Dawn some time awakens the Intellect,
And the soul at daybreak discovers all to be
The dream of God lasting through the ages.

VII.

Before the world or time or space
            Or waters in the deep,
Was Wisdom, in God’s bosom,
            With the Universe asleep.

There were no hills nor mountains,
            Indeed there was no land,
Nor clouds nor sky nor atmosphere
            When Creation first was planned.

But the Wisdom from God’s bosom
            Arose, and God awoke;
In an instant it was finished,
            In the instant that God spoke.

And yet that very instant
            Lasts through Eternity,
What God conceived through Wisdom first,
            Then saying: “Let Light be.”

Creation rose up from the depths,
            And then the sea and land,
But in the process, first to last,
            With Wisdom was all planned.