Liber Veneris - Chapter 37

Verses

Verse 49

The Queen of the Bright Road looked toward the country beneath all roads and said, I will know what my beauty cannot purchase.

Verse 50

Her ministers begged her to remain among the living. She answered, A crown that fears a gate is only decorated fear.

Verse 51

At the first gate the keeper said, Remove your diadem. She asked why. He said, Because down here height has no privilege.

Verse 52

She laid the diadem in the dust, and one star went dark above.

Verse 53

At the second gate he took her earrings. She heard then the small sounds of the dead, which jewels had always drowned.

Verse 54

At the third gate he took the necklace from her throat. Her titles loosened with it.

Verse 55

At the fourth gate he took the bright stones from her breast. She felt her heart beat without witnesses.

Verse 56

At the fifth gate he removed the ring of command. No servant came when she lifted her hand.

Verse 57

At the sixth gate he took the belt of fertility. She became neither mother nor maiden, neither promise nor memory.

Verse 58

At the seventh gate he took the robe itself. The Queen entered naked, and the underworld found no rank left to insult.

Verse 59

The Judge Below asked, Who are you now?

Verse 60

She answered first with her name. The hall remained silent.

Verse 61

She answered with her lineage. The stones did not move.

Verse 62

She answered with her lovers, victories, temples, songs, and cities. The dead yawned.

Verse 63

At last she said, I do not know.

Verse 64

Then the Judge smiled for the first time in an age.

Verse 65

They hung her upon a hook between being and not-being, and all the perfumes of heaven failed to reach her.

Verse 66

Above, the fields hardened. Beds cooled. Music lost one note. Even quarrels became dull.

Verse 67

A small black cat waited before the first gate and refused to leave.

Verse 68

The keeper said, Animals may not petition for gods. The cat replied by scratching him, which opened negotiations.

Verse 69

From the world above came two creatures carrying neither sword nor doctrine, only water and the food of return.

Verse 70

They did not argue with the pain below. They echoed it until pain heard itself.

Verse 71

The Queen opened her eyes and said, Which of my servants conquered death?

Verse 72

They answered, None. Death simply released what it could not digest.

Verse 73

She climbed upward. At each gate an ornament was returned, but it no longer fit in the same way.

Verse 74

The crown felt lighter because she knew the skull beneath it.

Verse 75

The jewels sounded louder because she had heard the unadorned dead.

Verse 76

The robe was warm because nakedness had ceased to threaten her.

Verse 77

When she returned to the sky, people cried, The goddess is restored!

Verse 78

But she whispered, No. The disguise is restored. I am what passed through without it.