The Dream / The Epic of Gilgaman Kerman as recorded on clay tablets

[AdmiralAndre]

This is my first post here on the Kerbal forums, but I wanted to share something I posted on the Kerbal subreddit.

Tablet I

O my mother, a vision

Which I beheld in my night-time

Behold, there were stars of the heavens*

And before me did I see a city that glimmered by the waters

While the heavens were being clothed in night

There rose a tower bathed in light – so high was it

That the sky did tremble, and the ground did shake

Thus did my dream begin

*First three lines from the following translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh, translated by R. Campbell Thompson, 1928:

http://sacred-texts.com/ane/eog/

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Tablet II

And within the tower

There dwelled three of our kind

Kerbal were their faces

But stout hearts did they possess

As large as the mountain

Such as none have known before

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Tablet III

At once they uttered the command

And the heavens split with a fiery roar

The gleaming tower rose

And smoke did I see

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Tablet IV

Up rode the three

Upon their chariot

And even the wind

Dared not stir

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Tablet V

Frightened, and still with terror did I become

When at once the tower did break

But my amazement grew

When the piece that remained

Glided ever higher

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Tablet VI

Out of the darkness o mother

The tower arose

And the sun

Curious to see what caused the thunder

Did greet them

Once more

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Tablet VII

Mother – aright did I see the world

Its shape was round and full

As it swam in the lake of night

Speckled with stars

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Tablet VIII

At once did my gaze widen

When large I saw the Mun

And the tower flew on

Becoming ever smaller

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Tablet IX

I looked back o mother

And my heart did crumble

When small I saw our world

Such that it melted into night

A Mun itself now mother

Did our world become

A small round ball

Wafting in an endless gale

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Tablet X

Now I saw the Mun

Aye, it did come to me

Grey and battered

As if by heavy blows

But steady now Mother

I saw the three drift

The tower had become tiny

But fearless were the three

And rearranged the pieces

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Tablet XI

Then I saw the strength

Of these great warriors

Who did battle with the night

And swam among the worlds

One remained as guardsman

And only two did go on

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Tablet XII

All that was left now mother

Of the mighty tower

That once rose by the sea

Was but a tiny crumb

And as the world was witness

It did glide down

Down to the face of the Mun

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Tablet XIII

Giant holes I could now see

As I quaked in terror

And they did threaten

To eat the tiny speck

And my heart grew heavy

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Tablet XIV

There, upon that grey arena

Did the two warriors prove their worth

And the Mun stilled its hunger

And the fragment of the tower

Did come to rest

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Tablet XV

Kerbal were their faces

Aye mother this is true

But braver than any I have seen

And forth did they go

And placed their feet upon the Mun

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Tablet XVI

My son, what you have told me

Has moved very deeply my old heart

And your dream has given me hope

And has set strength within my bones

But a care has stirred within me

For I long to know if these brave few

Who wear the faces of Kerbals

But have the spirits of giants

Did ever return from that distant place

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Tablet XVII

O Mother, though I long for nothing more

Than to set your heart at ease

The answers I lack

For then did I awake

And my dream did end

[KSK]

Beautiful work - that felt like an epic journey. I think Tablets 14 and 15 were my favourites!

But braver than any I have seen

And forth did they go

And placed their feet upon the Mun.

Yep - like that. I know it was pretty much the point but I did like the way you kept the style of the first three lines going so well for the rest of the piece.

[MajorThomas]

Wow. Just...wow.

[Krevsin]

Wow. Absolutely brilliant! Kudos!

[Ravenchant]

That conjures some beautiful imagery. 9, 10 and 11 in particular...woah. Amazing!

[dshuck]

This is the best thing created ever.

[Galactor]

So... being a bit of a lit nerd myself I decided, especially considering for some reason I thought this WAS going to be a version of Ozymandias set in kerbaldom, to just go ahead and do that...

So without further adieu, my nod to Shelley and to Squad:

I met a traveller from a spaceborn land

Who said: Two vast triumphant spheres of dust

stand in the night sky. On them, in the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered spaceship lies, whose parts,

and broken bits, and sneer of lost command,

tell that its sculptor well that science read

which yet made it, back from that lifeless thing,

the pod that mocked them and the men it fed:

and on the plaque these words appear:

"My name is Jebediah, King of Space:

Look on my works, ye cowards, and despair!"

Nothing beside remains. Round the debris

of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,

the lone and level sands stretch far away.

[Tw1]

That was... well... Epic.

[AtomicNinja17]

hehehe I see what you did there with the title I'm reading the Epic of Gilgamesh in class right now.

[AdmiralAndre]

Certainly an ode worthy of Jebediah!

[DH_Ocelot]

A work of art indeed!

[Whirligig Girl]

Wow. That was really rather neat-o.

[Nothalogh]

I think there should be a rarely occurring Kerbal named Gilgam