This file is incomplete. When finished it will contain a review of
the novel, notes of especially interesting points from the book and
(for my easy access) the verse sprinkled throughout the volume. I
begin with an initial review and with the verses reminiscent of the
Rubaiyat. L. Sprague de Camp has written other historicle novels,
including An Elephant For Aristotle and The Arrows of Heracles.
MM 22/2/2008

The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate, L. Sprague de Camp, Lancer, New York,
1968 (1961)

This is a historical novel, set at the end of the reign of the Persian
Great King Xerxes. The protagonist is the Greek tutor Myron who goes
with his student, a tall, heroic Persian noble, on a quest to find a
living dragon at the source of the Nile and return with it to Xerxes.

The book is richly adorned with the author's erudite awareness of the
background. Some notes are listed below, as also are some verses the
novel contains, reminiscent of the Fitzgerald's quatrains of his
translation of Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat.

The moving shadow saith: "Swift Time doth run,
And soon he'll hale thee where there is no sun."
Well, then, am I Time's slave? I'll mock the fiend,
And gaily revel til' my course be done! (p. 38)

Some give their dead to earth, and some to fire,
And some to beasts that roam the deserts dire;
But since the dead do not return to rail,
For aught I care, my guts may string a lyre. (p.51)

When I was young my tutor used to say:
"Waste not thy gold on wine, on revels gay!"
But thieves have stolen all the gold I saved;
Whilst that I spent on wine is mine for aye! (p. 65)

Behold the moon which monthly swella and shrinks.
It is, they say, a god. 'Tis but, methinks,
A silver dish by goddess hurled at mate,
And which, forever hurling onward, winks! (p. 65)

Some men adore the gods on bended knee,
While some to their inmost secrets seek the key.
I go my gait and leave the gods alone,
In hope that they will do the like to me! (p. 105)

Though thieves and lions in my pathway lie,
And whores and merchants seek to wring me dry,
With iron-hearted friends to guard my back,
I'll stride the dusty road until I die! (p. 121, 381)

When lions roar upon a moonless night,
And ghastly spectres mortals do afright,
'Tis then our metal shows its temper true,
And quaking cravens scuttle into fright! (p. 146)

Our throats are dry, our lances stiff and keen;
For many a dusty furlong have we seen.
Break out the wine and tune the twanging lyre;
We'll sing, and dance, and futter every queen! (p. 186)

Some seek for truth in ancient, crumbling screeds,
While others would unravel priestly creeds;
But as for me, I look for wisdom true
In wine, in women, and in noble steeds! (p. 197)

Some men prefer to sleep in tents, while some
In palace walls alone to sleep succumb;
But tent or palace, 'tis the same to me,
For when I wish to slumber, sleep shall come! (p. 263)

Behold the gallant Aryan hero true,
Of little wit and mighty, bulging thew;
He slays a dragon or a thousand foes,
Then trips and breaks his neck without ado! (p. 293)

Here comes the sage from Hellas, grave and wise,
Whose eagle gaze doth scan the starry skies;
With eyes aloft on a cockadrill he treads,
And so concludes his heavenly surmise! (p. 293)

When bogles grim before your footsteps rise,
And lowering thunder clouds benight the skies,
Drink, and the phantoms scatter into mist,
Drink, and the juice your omen drear denies! (p. 382)

Belike the friend whom for an hour we leave,
Is gone forever, sadly though we grieve;
While him to whom we bid farewell for aye,
We may yet meet again, by Fate's reprieve! (p. 407)


Solarguard Graeco-Roman 



Solarguard Homepage