Book of Genesis by Jose Almudever

Book of

Genesis

Literature research

NEST Project

NEST PROJECT ď&#x201A;¨ BookofGenesis Âˇ Literature INDEX Romanian Literature Polish Literature Italian Literature Spanish Literature Greek Literature Latvian Literature Turkish Literature Final conclusions Pictures: our students working on this research

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BookofGenesis · Literature  NEST PROJECT Romanian Literature · Authors Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889)

Liviu Rebreanu (1885-1944)

Romania’s greatest romantic poet, Mihai Eminescu, was born at Ipotesti, Botosani on January 15, 1850. He attended elementary and secondary school in Cernãuti. He travelled all over Romania, in 1867, when he was employed as an actor and prompter in Iorgu Caragiale’s theatrical company. He attended lectures on philosophy, history, law, political economy and philology at Vienna University. There be was among the founders of “Romania Juna”, a society of the Romanian students. He made his literary debut in “Familia”. In 1872, the poet enrolled as a student at the University of Berlin; he wrote such famous poems: “Emperor and Proletarian”, “Angel and Demon”. Once back in Iasi, the poet became director of the Central Library. Towards the end of 1877, Eminescu went to Bucharest upon accepting Titu Maiorescu’s invitation to work for “The Time” and publishes “Luceafarul”, his masterpiece.

Liviu Rebreanu was born in Austria-Hungary in the village of Tîrlişua (Transylvania), nowadays in the Romanian county of Bistriţa-Năsăud, being the first child of the local teacher, Vasile Rebreanu. He followed military studies at Budapest, in Hungary, becoming in 1906 second lieutenant in the army of Austria-Hungary. After two years he resigned from the army, and in 1909 he moved to Bucharest, in Romania. In 1920 the novel "Ion" was published , and Rebreanu was rewarded with the so called "Năsturel Herescu", Academy prize for literary merits. The novel had numerous editions in the following years. In 1922 he published "Pădurea spînzuraţilor" (Forest of the Hanged), in 1925 "Adam and Eve", in 1933 "Răscola" (Uprising). In 1939 Rebreanu was elected member of the Romanian Academy. The writer died on the 1st of September 1944 at Valea Mare near Piteşti (Argeş county), where he had a vineyard and a house.

The only volume of poems printed during his lifetime appeared in the same year, 1883. The poet died on June 15, 1889 and was buried in the Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest. After his death he was made an honorary member of the Romanian Academy in October 1948. Liviu Rebreanu

MihaiEminescu , Scrisoarea I .

Adam and Eve

Mircea Cărtărescu (1956-...) Mircea Cărtărescu was born in Bucharest in 1956. His father was an engineer. He attended the University of Bucharest, where he met other writers who were looking to change Romanian literature. After graduation he became a teacher of Romanian literature. His initial work was in poetry and he gradually earned a reputation as one of the leading Romanian poets. Though he claimed to have been writing prose for some time, it was only in 1989 that his first prose work was published, a collection of connected stories. After the fall of communism, he became a lecturer in literature at the University of Bucharest. His reputation was further enhanced with the publication of Levantul, an epic poem in twelve books. In 1994, his first proper novel was published, since translated into French and Dutch but not English. He is now recognised as the leading contemporary Romanian writer.

NEST PROJECT  BookofGenesis · Literature

Vasile Voiculescu (1884 – 1963) Voiculescu was born in Pârscov, Buzău County, Romania, to a family of wealthy peasants. Upon graduating high school in 1902, he read Philosophy for a year at the University of Bucharest before starting his medical studies at the Faculty of Medicine. He became a doctor of medicine in 1910. March 1912 marked Voiculescu's debut as a poet with Dor ("Longing"), a poem first published in Convorbiri Literare. He managed to publish a volume of poems in 1916, but the German Empire forces occupying Bucharest and destroyed all copies. In 1918, he published the volume Din ţara zimbrului . Between the two world wars, he lived in Bucharest and held a series of public conferences on medicine, broadcast on radio and aimed primarily at peasant audiences. He wrote poetry of religious persuasion, themed around the birth of Christ, Magi, and Crucifixion. His literary style gradually became Expressionistic. Voiculescu published several short stories, novels and plays. After World War II, Romanian communist authorities attacked and persecuted Voiculescu for his religious and democratic ideals, and did not allow him to publish. He was imprisoned in 1958, at the age of 74, and he spent the following four years in prison; he became ill during detention, dying of cancer a few months after his release. His final work, The Last Imagined Sonnets of Shakespeare. An intricate portrayal of love in all its glory, it was published after his death. In 1990, he was posthumously elected member of the Romanian Academy. Fragment of ancient fresco

Verses in the box of a primitive

Paradise was dead: Cordless clock .

Adam wakes : he feels in his ribs a sweet pain.

Languid lions slept beside lambs,

Beside him, the woman smiles serenely .

tigers and gazelles were tossing their heads among the flowers,

And he, like in a dream , wonders

the unicorn seemed made out of spinned stalks ,

amazed, what is this,

horses out of rubber, bulls out of laziness dogs had stopped

what is this white naked apparition

barking under the thick shade an ugly monkey slept like a stone

and what is it for.

Adam?

Suddenly his eyes choose her white

Sick of this stationary world

and he is breathless for a moment.

The Father himself languished dreaming another being.

From h is chaste being he feels sprout

In his boredom he made a glazed creature

the innocent flame of temptation.

Of flowers, strawberries , apples ,

Eva , feeling the sweet Cupid's arrow ,

bizarre , burning , disturbing ,

drops over her back the waves of her hair

with petals claws in its hands and feet ,

and slowly walks her smile gracefully

with tender and fresh smell of sin.

on her breasts , on her hips , all over her body ,

Lions have stopped yawning,

to find out what mysteries are being opened ...

beasts have surrounded all at once, centaurs galloping have

And then , defending her modesty , with fragile hands

come to look and a flock of angels has dropped hastily

she shows it more than hides it.

to praise in its songs of silver. Soft , naked, without shame, Eva smiled everyone sweetly , and the heart of paradise finally began to pound .

Conclussions Great praise to the creation of woman by God. Paradise changes with her creation, because God sees in her the beauty of Paradise. On the other hand, Adam is seen as an ugly one. One of the novelties in this text is the introduction of angels in the creative process.

BookofGenesis · Literature  NEST PROJECT Polish Literature · Authors JAN KOCHANOWSKI (1530-1584) Jan Kochanowski was a Polish Renaissance poet who established poetic patterns that would become integral to Polish literary language. He is commonly regarded as the greatest Polish poet as well as the the greatest Slavic poet prior to the 19th century. Kochanowski was born at Sycyna, near Radom, Poland. Little is known of his early education. At fourteen, however, fluent in Latin, he was sent to Kraków to study at the Jagiellonian University. After graduation in 1547 at age 17, he attended university at Koenigsberg, in Ducal Prussia, and at Padua, Italy. At Padua, Kochanowski came in contact with the great humanist scholar Francis Robortello. Kochanowski closed his fifteen-year period of studies and travels with a final visit to France, where he met the poet Pierre Ronsard. In 1559 Kochanowski returned to Poland for good, a humanist and Renaissance poet. He spent the next fifteen years close to the court of King Sigismund II of Poland, serving for a time as royal secretary. In 1574, following the decampment of Poland's recently elected King Henryk Walezy (whose candidacy to the Polish throne Kochanowski had supported), Kochanowski settled on a family estate at Czarnolas ("Blackwood") to lead the life of a country squire. In 1575 he married Dorota Podlodowska, with whom he had seven children.Kochanowski is sometimes referred to in Polish as "Jan of Czarnolas" ("John of Blackwood"). It was there that he wrote his most memorable works, including The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys and the Laments. Kochanowski died, probably of a heart attack, in Lublin on August 22, 1584.

What do You want from us, Lord (in Polish: Czego chcesz od nas, Panie) What do You want from us, Lord, for Your lavish gifts? What for the benefactions, which have no limits? The Church will not contain You, You are everywhere: On the earth, in the depths, the sea, the open air. You do not want gold, I know, as it is all Yours, Whatever in this world man names as his resource. With our grateful hearts we sing your glory, O Lord, For no offering more proper can we afford. You are the Lord of the whole world, You built the sky, And embroidered it splendidly with gold stars high. Of the earth untraversed, You lay the foundation, And covered its bareness with rich vegetation. By Your own command the sea stands within its shores And is fearful to leap over its assigned course. Inexhaustible waters enrich the rivers, Bright day and shadowy night keep their hours diverse. By Your will Spring brings flowers, in abundance born, By Your will Summer wears wreaths made from ears of corn. Autumn gives out wine and apples of various kinds, Idle Winter rises, when ready meal she finds. By Your grace the dew descends on frail plants at night, And the rain brings new life to withered grains aright. From Your hands all animals look for sustenance, And You nourish them all in Your munificence. Be praised forever, everlasting Creator! Your grace and Your goodness will not cease evermore. Shield us, as long as You deign, on this earth so low, But in the shade of Your wings let us always go!

Conclussions “The Lord, with his great witness, is the creator of the whole world and its owner. Because of that, we are pleased. God is in every nature’s detail. His eternal grace and divinity is the origin of this wonderful world.”

NEST PROJECT  BookofGenesis · Literature

Italian Literature · Authors Saint Francis of Assisi Born in Italy in 1181, St. Francis of Assisi was renown for drinking and partying in his youth. After fighting in a battle between Assisi and Perugia, Francis was captured and imprisoned. He spent nearly a year in prison and, during this time, reportedly began receiving visions from God. After his release from prison, Francis reportedly heard the voice of Christ, who told him to repair the Christian Church and live a life of poverty. Thusly, he abandoned his life of luxury and devoted his life to Christianity, and became known all over the Christian world. Later in life, Francis reportedly received a vision that left him with the stigmata of Christ—marks resembling the wounds Jesus Christ suffered when he was crucified—making Francis the first person to receive the holy wounds of the stigmata. He was canonized as a saint on July 16, 1228. Today, St. Francis of Assisi has had a lasting resonance, with millions of followers across the globe.

Conclussions “It is a song of praise to God for all creation. In addition, it explains the virtues that people should have.”

BookofGenesis · Literature  NEST PROJECT Dante Alighieri [1265-1321] Dante was an Italian poet and moral philosopher best known for the epic poem The Divine Comedy, which comprises sections representing the three tiers of the Christian afterlife: purgatory, heaven, and hell. This poem, a great work of medieval literature and considered the greatest work of literature composed in Italian, is a philosophical Christian vision of mankind’s eternal fate. Dante is seen as the father of modern Italian, and his works have flourished since before his 1321 death.

Paradiso Canto VII:1-54 ·

The Fall of Man and the Crucifixion

‘Osanna Sanctus Deus Sabaoth, superillustrans claritate

tua

felices

ignes

horum

malachoth!

Hosanna, Holy God of Sabaoth, illuminating the blessed

fires

these

kingdoms,

with

your

brightness from above! So I saw him, singing, to whom the double lustre, of Law and Empire, adds itself, revolving to his own note, and he and the others moved in dance, and like the swiftest of sparks, suddenly veiled themselves from me, in the distance. I said, hesitating: ‘Speak to her, Speak,’ in myself, ‘Speak to my Lady who quenches my thirst,

with

the

sweetest

drops.’

But

that

reverence that completely overcomes me, even at the sound of Be or ice, bowed me again, like a man who slumbers. Beatrice only let me be like that for a moment, and began to direct the rays of her smile towards me, that would make a man happy in the flames: ‘According to my unerring perception, those words about how just vengeance was revenged, with justice, have set you thinking: but I will quickly relieve your thoughts: and listen closely since my words will grant you the gift of a noble statement. Adam, that man who was not born, condemned his whole race because he would not suffer a rein on his will, for his own good. Therefore Humanity lay in sickness down there, and in great error, for many ages, until it pleased God’s Word to descend, when he joined that nature that had wandered from its Creator, to his own person, solely by an act of his eternal Love. Now turn you vision to what I now say: this nature, joined to its maker, was pure and good, as it was when first created, but it had been exiled from Paradise, by its own action, by turning from the way of truth, and its own life. Measured by the nature assumed, no penalty was ever exacted so justly, as that one, inflicted on the Cross, and if we gaze at the Person who endured it, in whom that nature was incarnate, by the same measure no punishment was ever so unjust. So contrary effects came from one cause: God and the Jews were satisfied by the same death: and Earth shook, and Heaven opened at it. Now, it should not seem a difficulty to you, to hear it said that just revenge was taken by the Court of Justice. But now I see your mind tangled in knots, from thought to thought, which it greatly longs for release from.’

NEST PROJECT  BookofGenesis · Literature Paradiso Canto VII:55-120 ·

The Redemption: The Incarnation

‘You are saying to yourself: Yes, I understand what I hear, but why God only willed this method of our redemption, is hidden from me. Brother, this decree is buried from the sight of everyone whose intellect is not ripened in Love’s flame. But I will reveal why this method was the most valuable, since it is knowledge often aimed at, but little understood. The Divine Good, that rejects all envy, fires out such sparks from its inner fire as to show forth the eternal beauty. What distills from it, without mediation, is eternal, because the print cannot be removed, once it has stamped the seal. What rains down from it, without mediation, is total freedom, since it is not subject to the power of transient things. It conforms more closely to the Good, and is therefore more pleasing to it: since the sacred flame that lights everything, is most alive in what most resembles it. The human creature has all these advantages, and if one fails, then that creature falls from nobility. Sin is the only thing that disenfranchises it, and makes it dissimilar to the Highest Good, so that its light irradiates it less, and the creature may never return to dignity, unless it fills the place where guilt has made a void, with just punishment for sinful delight. When your nature sinned in totality in the first seed, it was parted from dignity, as it was from Paradise: and they could not be regained, however subtly you search, except by crossing over one of these two fords: either that God out of his grace remitted the debt, or Man gave satisfaction for his foolishness. Now fix your eyes on the abyss of Eternal Wisdom, following my speech as closely as you can. Man had no power ever to be able to give satisfaction, in his own being, since he could not humble himself, by new obedience, as deeply, as he had aimed, so highly, to exalt himself, through disobedience. This was the reason why man was shut out from the power to give satisfaction by himself. Therefore God had to return Man to his perfect life in his own way: that is, through mercy or through justice, or both. And since what is done by the doer is more gracious the more it shows us the goodness of the heart it comes from, the Divine Goodness, that imprints the world, was content to act in both ways, to raise you up again. Between the first day and the last, there never was, nor ever will be again, so high and magnificent a progress on either of those roads, since God was more generous in giving of himself, to make Man capable of rising again, than if he had only granted remission, from himself: and every other way fell short of justice, except that by which the Son of God humbled himself, to become incarnate.’

BookofGenesis · Literature  NEST PROJECT Paradiso Canto VII:121-148 · Creation and Resurrection ‘Now to answer all your longings, I go back to explain a certain passage, so that you can understand it as I do. You are saying to yourself: I see the water, fire, earth, and air: and all their mixtures come to corruption, and do not last for long, and yet these things were creatures, and ought to be secure from corruption, if what I have said to you is true. Brother, the Angels, and the pure region where you are, may be said to be created as they are, in their total being, but the elements you have named and all the compounds of them, have been inwardly formed by a created power. The matter that they hold was created: the formative power in those stars which circle round them was created. The life of every wild creature and every plant is drawn from compounds gaining power by the rays and motion of the sacred lights. But your life is breathed into you without mediation, by the supreme beneficence that makes life love it, so that it always longs for it. And from this you can deduce your resurrection in the flesh, if you again consider how human bodies were first made, when your first parents were both made.

Conclusions

“The Lord created the human being on his own. The whole world makes sense because of him. God offered us the freedom to choose, the intelligence and the sense. We lost the paradise, for Adam and Eve’s fault. But God is so generous, that he forgave us by means of Jesus Christ. “

NEST PROJECT  BookofGenesis · Literature Spanish Literature · Authors St. John of the Cross John of the Cross (San Juan de la Cruz) (24 June 1542 – 14 December 1591), born Juan de Yepes Álvarez, was a major figure of the Counter-Reformation, a Spanish mystic, Catholic saint, Carmelite friar and priest, born at Fontiveros, Old Castile. Saint John of the Cross was a reformer of the Carmelite Order and is considered, along with Saint Teresa of Ávila, as a founder of the Discalced Carmelites. He is also known for his writings.

In Principio Erat Verbum In the beginning the Word

2. On the communication among the

"I will show my brightness

was; he lived in God

Three Persons.

to the bride you give me,

and possessed in him

In that immense love

so that by it she may see

his infinite happiness.

proceeding from the two

how great my Father is,

That same Word was God,

the Father spoke words

and how I have received

who is the Beginning;

of great affection to the Son,

my being from your being.

he was in the beginning

words of such profound delight

I will hold her in my arms

and had no beginning.

that no one understood them;

and she will burn with your love,

He was himself the Beginning

they were meant for the Son,

and with eternal delight

and therefore had no beginning.

and he alone rejoiced in them.

she will exalt your goodness."

The Word is called Son;

What he heard

he was born of the Beginning

was this:

"Let it be done, then," said the Father,

who had always conceived him,

"My Son, only your

for your love has deserved it.

giving of his substance always,

company contents me,

And by these words

yet always possessing it.

and when something pleases me

the world was created,

And thus the glory of the Son

I love that thing in you;

a palace for the bride

was the Father's glory,

whoever resembles you most

made with great wisdom

and the Father possessed

satisfies me most,

and divided into rooms,

all his glory in the Son.

and whoever is like you in nothing

one above, the other below.

As the lover in the beloved

will find nothing in me.

The lower was furnished

each lived in the other,

I am pleased with you alone,

with infinite variety,

and the Love that unites them

O life of my life!

is one with them,

You are the light of my light,

while the higher was made

their equal, excellent as

you are my wisdom,

beautiful

the One and the Other:

the image of my substance

with marvelous jewels,

Three Persons, and one Beloved

in whom I am well pleased.

that the bride might know

among all three.

My Son, I will give myself

the Bridegroom she had.

One love in them all

to him who loves you

The orders of angels

makes of them one Lover,

and I will love him

were placed in the higher,

and the Lover is the Beloved

with the same love I have for you,

but humanity was given

in whom each one lives.

because he has loved

the lower place,

For the being that the three possess

you whom I love so."

for it was, in its being,

each of them possesses,

3. On creation.

a lesser thing.

and each of them loves

"My Son, I wish to give you

And though beings and places

him who bears this being.

a bride who will love you.

were divided in this way,

Each one is this being,

Because of you she will deserve

yet all form one,

which alone unites them,

to share our company,

who is called the bride;

binding them deeply,

and eat at our table,

for love of the same Bridegroom

one beyond words.

the same bread I eat,

made one bride of them.

Thus it is a boundless Love that unites

that she may know the good

Those higher ones possessed

them,

I have in such a Son;

the Bridegroom in gladness;

for the three have one love

and rejoice with me

the lower in hope, founded

which is their essence;

in your grace and fullness."

on the faith that he infused in them,

and the more love is one

"I am very grateful,"

telling them that one day

the more it is love.

the Son answered;

he would exalt them,

BookofGenesis Âˇ Literature ď&#x201A;¨ NEST PROJECT and that he would lift them

And others: "Oh, if only these heavens

like the one he loves;

up from their lowness

would break, and with my own eyes

for the greater their likeness

so that no one

I could see him descending;

the greater their delight.

could mock it anymore;

then I would stop my crying out."

Surely your bride's delight

for he would make himself

"Oh, clouds, rain down from your height,

would greatly increase

wholly like them,

earth needs you,

were she to see you like her,

and he would come to them

and let the earth open,

in her own flesh."

and dwell with them;

which has borne us thorns;

"My will is yours,"

and God would be man

let it bring forth that flower

the Son replied,

and man would be God,

that would be its flowering."

"and my glory is

and he would walk with them

Others said: "What gladness

that your will be mine.

and eat and drink with them;

for him who is living then,

This is fitting, Father,

and he himself would be

who will be able to see God

what you, the Most High, say;

with them continually

with his own eyes,

for in this way

until the consummation

and touch him with his hand

your goodness will be more

of this world,

and walk with him

evident,

when, joined, they would rejoice

and enjoy the mysteries

your great power will be seen

in eternal song;

which he will then ordain."

and your justice and wisdom.

for he was the Head

In these and other prayers

I will go and tell the world,

of this bride of his

a long time had passed;

spreading the word

to whom all the members

but in the later years

of your beauty and sweetness

of the just would be joined,

their fervor swelled and grew

and of your sovereignty.

who form the body of the bride.

when the aged Simeon

I will go seek my bride

He would take her

burned with longing,

and take upon myself

tenderly in his arms

and begged God that he

her weariness and labors

and there give her his love;

might see this day.

in which she suffers so;

and when they were thus one,

And so the Holy Spirit

and that she may have life,

he would lift her to the Father

answering the good old man

I will die for her,

where God's very joy

gave him his word

and lifting her out of that deep,

would be her joy.

that he would not see death

I will restore her to you."

For as the Father and the Son

until he saw Life

Then he called

and he who proceeds from them

descending from the heights,

the archangel Gabriel

live in one another,

until he took God himself

and sent him to

so it would be with the bride;

into his own hands

the virgin Mary,

for, taken wholly into God,

and holding him in his arms,

at whose consent

she will live the life of God.

pressed him to himself.

the mystery was wrought,

By this bright hope

The Incarnation

in whom the Trinity

which came to them from above,

Now that the time had come

clothed the Word with flesh.

their wearying labors

when it would be good

and though Three work this,

were lightened;

to ransom the bride

it is wrought in the One;

but the drawn-out waiting

serving under the hard yoke

and the Word lived incarnate

and their growing desire

of that law

in the womb of Mary.

to rejoice with their Bridegroom

which Moses had given her,

And he who had only a Father

wore on them continually.

the Father, with tender love,

now had a Mother too,

So, with prayers

spoke in this way:

but she was not like others

and sighs and suffering,

"Now you see, Son, that your bride

who conceive by man.

with tears and moanings

was made in your image,

From her own flesh

they asked night and day

and so far as she is like you

he received his flesh,

that now he would determine

she will suit you well;

so he is called

to grant them his company.

yet she is different, in her flesh,

Son of God and of man.

Some said: "If only

which your simple being does not have.

The Birth

this joy would come in my time!"

In perfect love

When the time had come

Others: "Come, Lord,

this law holds:

for him to be born,

send him whom you will send!"

that the lover become

he went forth like the

NEST PROJECT ď&#x201A;¨ BookofGenesis Âˇ Literature bridegroom from his bridal chamber, embracing his bride, holding her in his arms, whom the gracious Mother laid in a manger among some animals that were there at that time. Men sang songs and angels melodies celebrating the marriage of Two such as these. But God there in the manger cried and moaned; and these tears were jewels the bride brought to the wedding. The Mother gazed in sheer wonder on such an exchange: in God, man's weeping, and in man, gladness, to the one and the other things usually so strange.

Conclussions This poem speaks about the Word, God, that has never been created. It describes the Father and the Son as two people who love themselves because they enjoy of all it has to do with them, when it says: "Nothing pleased me, Son, outside your company, and if something please me I would want it in you." Besides them, it refers to a third person, the Holy Spirit, who is the love that unites both loved. Later another character, the Wife He looks for his son. This wife He is looking for is a metaphor for all of us. The text also speaks about a twostorey palace: the first symbolizes the Earth and the second Heaven.

BookofGenesis · Literature  NEST PROJECT Pedro Espinosa (1578 - 1650)

Spanish poet and editor of the anthology Flores de poetas ilustres de España (1605; “Flowers from the Illustrious Poets of Spain”), in which most of the important poets of Spain’s Siglo de Oro (Golden Age; c. 1500–1650) were published. The anthology choices of authors and poems reflect the continuing judgment of later times. Espinosa’s own poetry clearly showed the Baroque influences of highly ornamental language and subtlety bordering on the esoteric. His long poem Fábula del Genil is considered one of the best poems in the Baroque mode. PSALM TO PERFECTION OF NATURE WORK OF GOD TRUMPETS THE FIRMAMENT THOSE THE WORKS BY YOUR HANDS MADE AND A BOOK ON YOUR SCIENCE UPON ME YOU WROTE LAND, SEA, FIRE, WIND LET YOUR POWER BE SEEN AND EVERY THING I SEE TELLS ME I DO LOVE YOU AND IN YOUR LOVE I’LL BE IN FLAMES BEYOND MY LOVE MY DESIRE COMES BETTER THAN I, MY LORD YOU DO KNOW IT TO THE VOICES ON YOUR SACRED WONDERS DEAF I STAND BEING CALLED, OH LORD, UPON YOUR LOVE WHO TAUCHT YOU TO MAKE FLOWERS AND ON A LEAF FULL OF FOUR AND SIX- WORK YOU EMBROID WHO THE OUTLINE OF A LILY DID TEACH YOU OR WHO THE ROSE CROWNDED IN GOLD QEEN OF SCENTS AND THE SUCH A BEAUTIFUL SHAME WHICH IS ON THE CARNATIONS KEPT THE KINGS OF SCENTS ON THAT BOTTON ITS BEUTY LIES WHOSE PENCILS ARE THOSE OF YOURS WHICH SO SUBTLY DO THEY PAINT THE LILIES VEINS MOON AND SUN, NOT FOR THE SENCOND ONE A LIGHT EYES IN SKY AND FOR THE WORLD A LAMP WHERE DID YOU FIND THEM AND WHAT SKY AS TREMBLING DIAMONDS AT DAWN THEY DO SHINE AND WHAT DOES IT HAVE, SEARCHING FOR THE CENTRAL PART, FIRE DISQUIETUDE FINDS AND WATER, WALKING AS A MAN LOOKING FOR MEN, MURMURING IN VAIN THAT SOUL LEVEL IN LIGHTNESS AND COLDNESS AND WHAT IS THIS THAT THE SEA BECOMES PALE NOT BY ITS AGE , BUT BY COMPLAINTS AND WIND WHICH STORMS BREEDS AND, WHAT DID YOU PLACED MOTHER EARTH AS IT EMBRACES MOUNTAINS, DREESES PROVINCES, AND SEAS ENCLOSES, AND WITH SANDY ARMS RESIST? OH, OUR HIGHNESS, OH LORD, BY YOU THAT I WAS CREATED I WON’T NEVER STEP AHEAD YOUR VERY POWER YOUR BLESSINGS SING AS WHEN IT BE STEARING AT THEM SHOLD IT WISELY BE A FOUL, STUNNED AND AMAZED BY THIS A BIT

Conclusions “It is a song of praise to God, the Creator, by the beauty of all Creation. A Creation with an immeasurable beauty in which the man, designed (created) in a perfect form, is also present. ”

NEST PROJECT  BookofGenesis · Literature

Greek Literature · Authors Hesiod (750 BC - 650 BC) As with Homer, legendary traditions have accumulated around Hesiod, although we do have at least some biographical details from references in his own works. His father came from Cyme in Aeolis, (modern day western Turkey), but crossed the sea to settle in a small village in Boeotia at the foot of Mount Helicon in Greece. As a youth, he worked as a shepherd in the mountains, and then, when his father died, as a small farmer working hard land. Hesiod claimed to have been granted the gift of poetic inspiration by the Muses themselves (who traditionally lived on Mount Helicon) while he was out tending sheep one day. After losing a lawsuit to his brother Perses over the distribution of his father's land, he left his homeland and moved to the region of Naupactus in the Gulf of Corinth. Hesiod’s dates are uncertain, but leading scholars generally agree that he lived in the latter half of the 8th Century BCE, probably shortly after Homer. His major works are thought to have been written around 700 BCE. Different traditions regarding Hesiod’s death have him dying either in the temple of Nemean Zeus at Locris, murdered by the sons of his host in Oeneon, or at Orchomenus in Boeotia. Writings Of the many works attributed in ancient times to Hesiod, three survive in complete form (“Works and Days”, “Theogony” and and many more in fragmentary state. Pandora: Hesiod, Works and Days 53-105 Then Zeus who gathers clouds addressed him angrily, "You, Iapetos' Son, knowing cunning more than all, with glee you stole the fire and deceived my mind; for you will be great sorrow, and for future men. As fire's price I'll give an evil thing, which all shall cherish in their hearts, embracing their own scourge." Thus spoke the sire of gods and men, and laughed aloud. He bade Hephaistos, well-renowned, to wet the earth with water speedily, to add both human voice and strength, to make a face like deathless goddesses', a maiden's lovely, charming shape; Athena was to teach the crafts and weaving on the well-wrought loom; and Aphrodite was to bathe her head with grace and difficult desire and limb-fatiguing care; to add a dog-like, shameless mind and thieving ways he charged to Hermes Argeiphontes, to the guide. He spoke, and they obeyed Lord Zeus, the Son of Kronos. Forthwith from earth the famous Doubly-lame One formed a modest maiden's shape, as Kronos' Son had planned; Bright-eyed Athene then arrayed and girded her; The goddess Graces and august Persuasion put the golden necklaces upon her skin; and then the fair-tressed Hours crowned her head with spring-time flowers; Athene draped her frame with every ornament. The Argos-slaying guide implanted in her breast deceits and wheedling words, the habits of a thief, according to loud-thundering Zeus's plans. And speech the herald of the gods put in, and named the maid Pandora, since all those who hold Olympian homes

had given gifts to her, sorrows for hard-working men. But when the sire had made the hopeless, towering trap, he sent the Argus-slaying, famed swift messenger of gods to bring the gift to Epimetheus, who forgot Prometheus told him to accept no gift from Zeus Olympian, but to send it back in case it be, perhaps, some evil thing for mortal men. But when he took and kept the scourge, he understood. At first the tribes of men had lived upon the earth apart and free of evils and of tiresome toil and hard diseases, which have brought to men their dooms, because by hardship mortal men are quickly aged. But with her hands the woman raised the jar's great lid, released all these, devising grievous cares for men. Alone there, Elpis, in her indestructible home, remained within, beneath the lip, nor by the door escaped, because the vessel's lid had stopped her first, by will of aegis-bearing, cloud-compelling Zeus. Among the people wander countless miseries; the earth is full of evils, and the sea is full; diseases come by day to people, and by night, spontaneous, rushing, bringing mortals evil things in silence, since contriving Zeus removed their voice. And thus from Zeus's mind there can be no escape.

Conclussions

About the creation of woman we notice that she is created as a punishment of gods for the cheating done by Prometheus. This contrasts with the biblical Genesis, in which the woman (Eve) is created by God as equal to man and as a good thing.

BookofGenesis Âˇ Literature ď&#x201A;¨ NEST PROJECT Theogony (ll. 116-138) Verily at the first Chaos came to be, but next wide-bosomed Earth, the eversure foundations of all (4) the deathless ones who hold the peaks of snowy Olympus, and dim Tartarus in the depth of the wide-pathed Earth, and Eros (Love), fairest among the deathless gods, who unnerves the limbs and overcomes the mind and wise counsels of all gods and all men within them. From Chaos came forth Erebus and black Night; but of Night were born Aether (5) and Day, whom she conceived and bare from union in love with Erebus. And Earth first bare starry Heaven, equal to herself, to cover her on every side, and to be an ever-sure abiding-place for the blessed gods. And she brought forth long Hills, graceful haunts

the

goddess-Nymphs

who

dwell

amongst the glens of the hills. She bare also the fruitless deep with his raging swell, Pontus, without sweet union of love. But afterwards she lay

with

Heaven

and

bare

deep-swirling

Oceanus, Coeus and Crius and Hyperion and Iapetus,

Theia

Mnemosyne

and

Rhea,

gold-crowned

Themis Phoebe

and

(ll.

139-146)

And

again,

she

bare

the

Cyclopes, overbearing in spirit, Brontes, and Steropes and stubborn-hearted Arges (6), who gave

Zeus

the

thunder

and

made

the

thunderbolt: in all else they were like the gods, but one eye only was set in the midst of their fore-heads. And they were surnamed Cyclopes (Orb-eyed) because one orbed eye was set in their foreheads. Strength and might and craft were in their works. (ll. 147-163) And again, three other sons were born of Earth and Heaven, great and doughty beyond telling, Cottus and Briareos and Gyes, presumptuous children. From their shoulders sprang

hundred

arms,

not

approached, and each had fifty heads upon his shoulders on their strong limbs, and irresistible was the stubborn strength that was in their great forms. For of all the children that were born of Earth and Heaven, these were the most terrible, and they were hated by their own father from the first.

and

lovely Tethys. After them was born Cronos the wily,

youngest

and

most

terrible

children, and he hated his lusty sire.

her

Conclussions It describes the Cosmogony and Theogony in detail because its objective is to convince everyone who reads the text about the veracity of the story told.

NEST PROJECT  BookofGenesis · Literature Latvian Literature Latvia is more dechristianized than the rest of the countries and its language is a minority one. For these reasons, it has been very difficult to find pieces of literature that speak of creation. But we found a creation myth of the Daugava River, which belongs to the popular literature, and it is shown below:

The Daugava river making – excavating When God had created trees, forests, animals, birds

"Obviously, your beautiful skirt is more important

and fishes, the river Daugava did not exist yet. All

to you. Keep it! But you will never drink clear

animals

water not from the river, not from the pond.

and

birds

started

quarrel

among

themselves. You can drink only water which is on the leaves of They started to work immediately. Hare and fox -

trees and the water, which is on the rocks“. So

they have agile legs - measured the way for the

when the storm approaches other birds are silent,

river. The hare jumps first, and then fox dragged

but rain bird sadly, sadly weeps for his pride.

with the tail the river path border. Bear carried the land and patter in piles along the banks of the river making the mountains. Like other animals, birds and fishes worked very hard. All quarrels were over. Work quickly parted and the river valleys were excavated soon. Then God came to see the work. At first he saw the mole and bear, which had not been able to get clean after work. God praised them as diligent workers and wished them the honour of wearing the black work clothes. Wolf also worked hard, so God also left him black for life. Geese and ducks were praised for big work and God granted them to swim in the river and wash. Other birds, which also worked, but not so hard-working, were granted only to drink river water Then God saw rain bird on tree branches. He asked why it did not work as other birds. Rain bird responded quite quickly that his yellow jackets would become dirty in the mud. God replied,

Then God saw the fish – plaice, how it goals in the sand. He said, "Oh, you poor plaice!"

But place did

not like such compassion, so she aped, "O Ku, poor plaice!" Then God said, "May your mouth remain crooked, which you do pulled!"

This is also why even now

plaice’s mouth is crooked. God then asked, "Where is the cancer? I can’t see him?" But the cancer roughly said, "Do you have eyes behind you that you can’t see me?" The cancer was severely punished because of such a response by God. The cancer was determined to go backwards. After that God poured water from the golden cup into the excavation ravine and showed where to run and reach the sea. The broad stream ran to the sea. God named the river - Daugava

BookofGenesis · Literature  NEST PROJECT Turkish Literature · Authors Yunus Emre (1238 – 1320) He was a 13th century Turkish pet and mystic, who had an immense influence on Turkish literature. He was the leading representative of mysticism in Anatolia. Under the influence of Mongol onslaught in the 13th century, the Islamic mystic (sufi) literature reached to its zenith and Yunus Emre became one of the most distinguished poets by his simple and pure style and his ability to easily describe even the most difficult mystic concepts in a few simple sentences. He is still a popular figure in a group of countries located on a broad geography from Azerbaijan to Balkans. His poems, written by using traditional methods of Anatolian folk poetry, are mainly about the divine love and human destiny.

Yunus Emre’s poem I am He with power over “Be and it was,” the Beneficent, the Merciful. I am Sultan over all, who gives their nourishment without stint. I am He who created Adam from semen, who produces birds from eggs, Who gives speech to the tongue of Power, the reciter of praise and the One who is praised. I am He who makes some ascetics and others fornicators. And who conceals their faults; I am the Evidence and the Proof. I am the Eternal, the Powerful, absolute Truth. Tomorrow Khaqir will provide you with water: I am He who forgives him. I am He who keeps body and soul together, flesh and skin and bones. I have many deeds of Power. I am the Apparent, the Evident. I am the Hidden and the Apparent, the First and the Last. I am He and He is I. I am that Generous one who is praised. There is no interpreter between us. Whatever He does is evident to me. It is He who gave me a tongue. I am the ocean and the sea. I am He who created heaven and earth, who turns the heavenly throne. He has a thousand and one names, Yenus. I am the possessor of the Koran. What is to be done, O Moslems? for I do not recognize myself. I am neither Christian, nor Jew, nor Gabr, nor Moslem. I am not of the East, nor of the West, nor of the land, nor of the sea; I am not of Nature’s mint, nor of the circling heavens. I am not of earth, nor of water, nor of air, nor of fire; I am not of the empyrean, nor of the dust, nor of existence, nor of entity. I am not of India, nor of China, nor of Bulgaria, nor of Saqscn; I am not of the kingdom of ‘Iraqain, nor of the country of Khorasan. I am not of this world, nor of the next, nor of Paradise, nor of Hell; I am not of Adam, nor of Eve, nor of Eden and Rivwan. My place is the Placeless, my trace is the Traceless; ’Tis neither body nor soul, for I belong to the soul of the Beloved. I have put duality away, I have seen that the two worlds are one; One I seek, One I know, One I see, One I call. He is the first, He is the last, He is the outward, He is the inward; I know none other except ‘YA HE’ and ‘YA man HE.’ I am intoxicated with Love’s cup, the two worlds have passed out of my ken; I have no business save carouse and revelry. If once in my life I spent a moment without thee, From that time and from that hour I repent of my life. If once in this world I win a moment with thee, I will trample on both worlds, I will dance in triumph for ever. O Shamsc Tabrcz, I am so drunken in this world, That except of drunkenness and revelry I have no tale to tell.

Conclussions “The affirmation of God the Creator of all existing things. Sometimes God is given human attributions.”

NEST PROJECT  BookofGenesis · Literature Yacijo-Oglu (1400 – 1500)

The Book of Mohammed: The Creation of Paradise Hither come, O seeker after Truth! if joy thou wouldest share, Enter on the Mystic Pathway, follow it, then joy thou'lt share. Harken now what God (exalted high his name!) from naught hath formed. Eden's bower he hath created; Light, its lamp, he did prepare; Loftiest its sites, and best and fairest are its blest abodes; Midst of each a hall of pearls---not ivory nor teak-wood rare. Each pavilion he from seventy ruddy rubies raised aloft--Dwellings these in which the dwellers sit secure from fear or care. Round within each courtyard seventy splendid houses he hath ranged, Formed of emeralds green---houses these no fault of form that bear. There, within each house, are seventy pearl and gem-incrusted thrones; He upon each throne hath stretched out seventy couches broidered fair; Sits on every couch a maiden of the bourne of loveliness: Moons their foreheads, days their faces, each a jeweled crown doth wear; Wine their rubies, soft their eyes, their eyebrows troublous, causing woe: All-enchanting, Paradise pays tribute to their witching air. Sudden did they see the faces of those damsels dark of eye, Blinded sun and moon were, and Life's Stream grew bitter then and there. Thou wouldst deem that each was formed of rubies, corals, and of pearls; Question there is none, for God thus in the Qur'an doth declare. Tables seventy, fraught with bounties, he in every house hath placed, And on every tray hath spread out seventy sorts of varied fare. All these glories, all these honors, all these blessings of delight, All these wondrous mercies surely for his sake he did prepare: Through his love unto Mohammed, he the universe hath framed;

Conclussions “The author explains how the celestial paradise will be. A place with great splendor and in which everyone will be happy.”

Happy, for his sake, the naked and the hungry enter there. O Thou Perfectness of Potence! O Thou God of Awful Might! O Thou Majesty of Glory! O Thou King of Perfect Right! Since he Eden's heaven created, all is there complete and whole, So that naught is lacking; nothing he created needs repair. Yonder, for his righteous servants, things so fair hath he devised, That no eye hath e'er beheld them; ope thy soul's eye, on them stare. Never have his servants heard them, neither can their hearts conceive; Reach unto their comprehension shall this understanding ne'er. There that God a station lofty, of the loftiest, hath reared, That unclouded station he the name Vesila caused to bear, That to his Beloved yonder station a dear home may be, Thence ordained is Heaven's order free from every grief and care. In its courtyard's riven center, planted he the Tuba-Tree; That a tree which hangeth downward, high aloft its roots are there: Thus its radiance all the Heavens lighteth up from end to end, Flooding every tent and palace, every lane and every square. Such a tree the Tuba, that the Gracious One hath in its sap Hidden whatsoe'er there be of gifts and presents good and fair; Forth therefrom crowns, thrones, and jewels, yea, and steeds and coursers come, Golden leaves and clearest crystals, wines most pure beyond compare. For his sake there into being hath he called the Tuba-Tree,

That from Ebu-Qasim's hand might every one receive his share.

BookofGenesis · Literature  NEST PROJECT Final conclussions Searching writers who talk about Creation from

The Polish literature shows us Jan Kochanowski

our seven countries we discovered that just in

(16th century), one of the greatest Polish poets. In

five of them there are authors who actually wrote about it.

his poem What do you want from us, Lord? He

teaches us that the Lord, with his great witness, is the creator of the whole world and its owner.

Mainly in the Romanian literature there are four

Because of that, we are pleased. God is in every

important writers such as Mihai Eminescu (the

nature’s detail. His eternal grace and divinity is the

second half of the

origin of this wonderful world. He also criticizes the

19th century )who has

influences deriving from Rig Veda and Brahman

Church of his time.

own

and

The Italian literature has got two important works:

ancient myths, fragments of which can be found

The Canticle of the Creatures by Saint Francis of

mythology or from German sources, he built his universe

from

Romanian

folklore

in all his works. His First Satire (Scrisoarea I),

dating from 1881, is a masterpiece in this sense.

In A Dacian’s Prayer he expresses a religious feeling and wonders about religious topics.

On second place we find Vasile Voiculescu (1884-1963) poet, novelist, short stories writer

Assisi (1181-1226) a sort of psalm where he thanks

God

for

the

beauty

the

Creation

personifying the stars, the climatic phenomena and so on behaving with them in a brotherly way. And The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (12651321).Where we worked Canto VII from Paradise.

and playwright .He talks about. Religion in his

Here he explains that the Lord created the human

poems describing nature in Creation. We worked

being on his own. The whole world makes sense

Fragment of ancient fresco and Verses in the box

of a primitive, where he praises Eve’s creation and Eden nature.

because of him. God offered us the freedom to choose, the intelligence and the sense. We lost the paradise, for Adam and Eve’s fault. But God is so generous, that he forgave us by means of Jesus

Then author

Liviu

searches

Revreanu in

the

(1885-1944) Genesis

the

This

human

feelings and emotions through Adam and Eve.

Christ. The Divine Comedy is an epic poem considered the

preeminent work of Italian literature and is seen as Finally

Cartarescu

contemporary

(1956

...).

writer

Although

Mircea he

one of the greatest works of the world literature. The poem's imaginative and allegorical vision of

postmodernist (and one easily placeable among

the after

the best in our culture), his themes and symbols

world-view

haven’t lost their bound with the Romantic paradigm. he is the writer of trilogy – Blinding

(Orbitor)

this

uses

elements

from

quantum physics and numerous other examples extracted from science.

life is It

culmination is

divided

the medieval into

parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.

three

NEST PROJECT  BookofGenesis · Literature On the surface, the poem describes Dante's

In the Latvian literature there are just a few works

travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven; but

about Creation and they are related to their

at a deeper level, it represents allegorically the

popular mythology as for example The Daugava

soul's journey towards God. At this deeper level,

river making-excavating This is due to the low

Dante draws on medieval Christian theology and

level

philosophy,

shortage of translations to English

especially Thomistic

philosophy and

the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas.

Christianity

this

country

and

the

from this

minority language.

Consequently, the Divine Comedy has been called "the Summa in verse".

The Turkish literature has a relevant author, Yunus Emre (13th century). He was a Sufi dervish, poet and mystic and he has exercised an immense

The Spanish literature also has two important

influence on Turkish literature. His poems were

authors who talk about the Creation The first

written using traditional methods of Anatolian folk

one is Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591). He

poetry.

was a reformer from the Carmelite Order and is considered, along with Saint Teresa of Ávila, as a

His most important poem about Creation shows

founder of the Discalced Carmelites. He was a

God

mystic writer who felt and transmitted religious

features in some occasions.

all-powerful

creator

with

human

experiences. Another well-known author in Turkey is YazijiHe

uses

stylistic

symbols.

worked

the

Romance “In principium erat verbum” which was influenced by Song of Solomon

Oglu

(1400-1500),

who

wrote

The book

Mohammed: The Creation of Paradise. In this poem

he explains us with a wealth of detail the celestial paradise.

The second one is Pedro de Espinosa (15781650) Psalm to the perfection of God’s work. A

To sum up we can say that the most of the

poem which sings to the beauty of nature

Christian countries have got authors who wrote

including the human being as a God’s creation. It

about Creation according to their time believes as

is influenced by the Psalms of the Old Testament

well as the Turkish writers despite their Muslim roots.

Talking about the Greek literature we don’t have many fragments translated into English due to its history. There are few works which talk about Creation

but

studied

one

the

most

important ancient writer, Hesiod (8th – 7th

century BC) and his Theogony. His description of Creation is very rich although it is very different from the Christian point of view mainly when he talks about the origin of the first woman who is considered as a punishment for man from Zeus.

In the same sense, we found that Work and Days also talks about the origin of the first woman.

BookofGenesis · Literature  NEST PROJECT

Pictures: our students working on this research .

NEST PROJECT  BookofGenesis · Literature

BookofGenesis · Literature  NEST PROJECT

NEST PROJECT  BookofGenesis · Literature

NEST Project

 thebookofgenesisliteratureresearch

Thanks to all who have made this research possible