WSE

Homage to You, O Ra, at Your transcendant rising!
You rise in glory! The firmament glows with Light!
You, the Lord Of Rays, reflecting Source, bright-shining,
From which we come, towards which we rise.

Your priests go forth at dawn; they wash their hearts with laughter;
Divine winds move in music across Your golden Net.
At Sunset they embrace You, as every lofty fane
Flames with reflected color from Your Face.

You sail over all the worlds, and Your heart rejoices;
Your Morning Boat and Evening Boat on starwinds sail together;
Before Your face the goddess Gaia displays her ancient splendors,
And at Your name the halls of Anu ring with voices.

O Perfect One! O Prime Reflector! First And Greatest One!
Great Hawk of Dawn, O Mirror Of The Sun!
Between the Turquoise Sycamores that rise, young for ever,
Your visage flashes on the bright celestial river.

Your rays are on all faces; You are inscrutable.
Age after age Your life renews its eager prime.
Time whirls its dust beneath You; You stand, immutable,
Mirror of Time, Yourself beyond all Time.

You pass through star-road portals, behind the night,
Gladdening the souls of worlds that else would sorrow.
The True of Word, the Quiet Heart, arise to drink Your light;
You shine, today and yesterday; You shine tomorrow!

Homage to You, O Ra, Who wakens life from slumber!
You rise! Light shines! Your radiant Face appears!
Millions of years have passed, — none can count their number –
Millions of years shall come. You shine above the years!

Translators’ note: This hymn, first appearing in records of Emperor’s Birthday celebrations on Fons Luminis c. 9800 AT, is typical of the liturgical art of the Solar Dominion. As is often the case, it is open to question whether the artist was inspired by ancient works, or simply responding to the rich culture constructed by the Lord of Rays… who had thousands of years of Terragens culture to sample as e built that culture.

Translations of these “Radiant Hymns” are extremely difficult. Not only are there the problems inherent in adapting the meter and styles of one language’s poetry to another; there are significant semantic difficulties. Solarese has an extraordinarily rich vocabulary of terms referring to Light, which lends itself to multiply recursive allusions and puns. These complex, evocative meme-plays are all but impossible to do justice to. I have been forced, as have so many other scholars of the Dominion, to try and give a sense of the poem’s main argument; fully aware that the translation produced is a dim shadow of the original work. — M. Tohlerrandt, senior fellow, Institute For The Study Of Enlightenment

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