i-xiii

THE SAYINGS OF AGUR

i

The Unsearchableness of God

A Sonnet

I have wearied myself, O God,
I have wearied myself, O God,
And am consumed:

For I am more brutish than any man,

And have not the understanding of a man:

And I have not learned wisdom,

Neither have I the knowledge of the Holy One.

Who hath ascended up into heaven, and descended?

Who hath gathered the wind in his fists?

Who hath bound the waters in his garment?
Who hath established all the ends of the earth?

What is his name,

And what is his son's name,

If thou knowest?

ii

An Epigram

Every word of God is tried;

He is a shield unto them that trust in him:
Add thou not unto his words,

Lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

iii

The Golden Mean

A Number Sonnet

Two things have I asked of thee;
Deny me not three before I die:

Remove far from me vanity and lies;

Give me neither poverty nor riches;

Feed me with the food that is needful for me:

Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the

LORD?

Or lest I be poor, and steal,

And use profanely the name of my God.

iv

Slander not a servant unto his master,

Lest he curse thee, and thou be held guilty.

An Evil Generation

A Sonnet

There is a generation

That curseth their father,

And doth not bless their mother.

There is a generation

That are pure in their own eyes,

And yet are not washed from their filthiness

There is a generation —

Oh how lofty are their eyes!
And their eyelids are lifted up.

There is a generation

Whose teeth are as swords,

And their jaw teeth as knives,

To devour the poor from off the earth,
And the needy from among men.

vi

Things never satisfied

A Number Sonnet

The horseleach hath two daughters, Give, Give, There are three things that are never satisfied, Yea, four that say not, Enough:

The Grave;

And the barren Womb;

The Earth that is not satisfied with water;
And the Fire that saith not, Enough.

vii

An Epigram

The eye that mocketh at his father,
And despiseth to obey his mother,
The ravens of the valley shall pick it out,
And the young eagles shall eat it.

viii

Things not to be known

A Number Sonnet

There be three things which are too wonderful for me, Yea, four which I know not:

The way of an Eagle in the air;

The way

of a Serpent upon a rock;

The way of a Ship in the midst of the sea; And the way of a Man with a Maid.

ix

So is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eateth, and wipeth her mouth,
And saith, I have done no wickedness.

Things not to be borne

A Number Sonnet

For three things the earth doth tremble,
And for four, which it cannot bear: