THE annotated MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON by Andrew Lewis

PART 1

Cleopatra on the Nile,	The Nile river was most important to Egypt, and Queen Cleopatra travelled on it in her boat (barge).
Set your sail and drift awhile.	In Egypt the wind blows from north to south. To travel north, they allowed the current to carry them along. To travel south, they unfurled the sail.
Keep on going and you'll soon
Be at the Mountains of the Moon.	In ancient times it was thought that the Nile originated in mountains in the centre of Africa called 'The Mountains of the Moon'.

Pygmies there will bring you gold;	This region was the home of the Pygmies, who were known to the Egyptians and Greeks.
Place it in your barge's hold.
Honey, fruit, and many a flower;	Pygmies are known to love honey.
Anything that's in their power.

From the Forest there will come	Dense rain forest (jungle) is the home of the Pygmies.
Music by the flute and drum:
Watch our dance and you will see	It is said that Pygmies danced in the court of Egyptian monarchs.
How your little friends love thee.

Your enemies are far away,	Cleopatra fought a war with Rome.
So with us we hope you'll stay:
They cannot find you in our home,
Even though your rivals roam.	'Your rivals roam' is a homophone of 'your rival's Rome'.

PART 2

No one knows the Pygmies' secret;
But to you, Our Queen, we'll speak it.
Let us take you to our City,	There are many intriguing abandoned cities in jungles, in Mexico and south east Asia.
Long a ruin but very pretty.

So for many days they went
To the place that they had meant.
Through the Forest, green and dim;
At waterfalls they'd stop and swim.	To the Pygmies the rainforest is a source of joy and not fear, as it may be to other peoples.

At last they came upon a block
Of smooth and gleaming pure-white rock.
From the Forest they emerged
Onto the massive city's verge.

Along the spacious avenues
They wandered, and oft-times perused:
whoever could have built these places
Surpassed by far all other races.	Abandoned cities are evidence of ancient civilisation. Great Zimbabwe has been presented by Africans as evidence not only that a great civilisation was present in Africa, but also that Africans were capable of producing an indigenous culture. However, there are peoples who we know never had a city or a civilisation, such as the Pygmies and the Bushmen; are we to think any less of them? This poem makes light of this attitude, and questions the value of civilisation.

PART 3

Our ancestors in ancient times
Had visitors from many climes:
And they (before from us did part)
Found inspiration for their art.	In the last century it was often thought that civilisation had one place of origin, and dispersed from there.

The Sphinx you see, so very old,	Close to the pyramids in Egypt stands the Sphinx, a large stone figure with the body of a lion and the head of a man. It is usually thought to be the same age as the pyramids but could be considerably older.
Was copied in your land (we're told).
The Temple here, so long vacated,
At Ephesus was replicated.	This city in Asia Minor had one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, the Temple of Artemis.

Hanging gardens once abounded,	The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were another of the 7 Wonders.
Now by forest they're surrounded;
And if you look most carefully,
A stately pleasure-dome you'll see:	An allusion to the poem 'Xanadu' by Coleridge.

But Pygmies tired of hewing stone,
Now the Forest is our home.
We gave it up, there's no regret;
Our happiness you'll not forget.