in 44 (K-D 31), which just precedes it in the manuscript, and may be only a careless mechanical repetition on the part of the scribe.
59 (K-D 27)
I am honored among men both near and far;
brought from the groves and inhabited hills,
from vales and from downs. By day I was borne
on wings through the air and happily wafted
to the shelter of roofs. Then they bathed me in butts.
Now I bind and I scourge and I overthrow
the young to the ground and the elders sometimes,
and this he soon finds who takes me on
and attacks me with violence; he falls on his back
unless he flees from his folly. Robbed of his strength,
though strong in speech, he is deprived of his powers,
and control of his mind, of his feet and his hands.
Ask what my name is who bind men to the ground,
the foolish after fighting, in broad daylight.
Mead—the blossoming trees, bees, honey, stored to ferment, and then….
60 (K-D 28)
There’s a bit of earth beautifully sown
with the hardest and the sharpest and the grimmest that men own.
Cut and cleaned, turned and dried;
pleached and wound; bleached and bound;
adorned and arrayed and borne away
to the doors of men. Joy is within
for living creatures. It delays and it stays
a long long while. They live in joy
and naught gainsays. But after the death
they start talking big, chattering, chittering.
It is hard for a wise man to say what this is.
