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Adam, Lilith, and Eve (Jocoseria, 1883). The Talmudists, in their
fanciful commentaries on the Old Testament, say that Adam had a wife
before he married Eve, who was called Lilith; she was the mother of
demons, and flew away from Adam, and the Lord then created Eve from one of
his ribs. Lilith had been formed of clay, and was sensual and disobedient;
the more spiritual Eve became his saviour from the snares of his first
wife. Mr. Browning in this poem merely uses the names, and makes no
reference to the Talmudic or Gnostic legends connected with them. Under
the terror inspired by a thunderstorm, two women begin a confession of
which they make light when the danger has passed away. The man says he saw
through the joke, and the episode was over. It is a powerful and
suggestive story of falsehood, fear, and a forgiveness too readily
accorded by a man who makes a joke of guilt when he has lost nothing by
it.
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