Incipit (Latin for "it begins"), the first line of a poem
Incipit Satan | incipit | Incipit | Incipit |
The work known by its incipit, Angim, “The Return of Ninurta to Nippur,” is a rather obsequious 210-line mythological praise poem for the ancient Mesopotamian warrior-god Ninurta, describing his return to Nippur from an expedition to the mountains (KUR), where he boasts of his triumphs against "rebel lands" (KI.BAL), boasting to Enlil in the Ekur, before returning to the Ešumeša temple – to “manifest his authority and kingship.”
The novel takes its title from the incipit of the famous Psalm 137: By the Rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion (KJV).
Appendices including an index of role names and an index of incipits of arias, ensembles, and opera pieces.