s, the sacred water would dispel the evil
one; as the drops trickled from the patient's face, so would the fever
spirit trickle away. When a pig was offered up in sacrifice as a
substitute for a patient, the wicked spirit was commanded to depart
and allow a kindly spirit to take its place--an indication that the
Babylonians, like the Germanic peoples, believed that they were
guarded by spirits who brought good luck.

The numerous incantations which were inscribed on clay tablets and
treasured in libraries, do not throw much light on the progress of
medical knowledge, for the genuine folk cures were regarded as of
secondary importance, and were not as a rule recorded. But these
metrical compositions are of special interest, in so far as they
indicate how poetry originated and achieved widespread popularity
among ancient peoples. Like the religious dance, the earliest poems
were used for magical purposes. They were composed in the first place
by men and women who were supposed to be inspired in the literal
sense; that is, possessed by spirits. Primitive man associated
"spirit" with "breath", which was the "air of life", and identical
with wind. The poetical magician drew in a "spirit", and thus received
inspiration, as he stood on some sacred spot on the mountain summit,
amidst forest solitudes, beside a' whispering stream, or on the
sounding shore. As Burns has sung:

The muse, nae poet ever fand her,
Till by himsel' he learn'd to wander,
Adown some trottin' burn's meander,
An' no think lang:
O sweet to stray, an' pensive ponder
A heart-felt sang!

Or, perhaps, the bard received inspiration by drinking magic water
from the fountain called Hippocrene, or the skaldic mead which dripped
from the moon.

The ancient poet did not sing for the mere love of singing: he knew
nothing about "Art for Art's sake". His object in singing appears to
have been intensely practical. The world was inhabited by countless
hordes of spirits, which were believed to be ever exercising
themselves to influence mankind. The spirits caused suffering; they
slew victims; they brought misfortune; they were also the source of
good or "luck ". Man regarded spirits emotionally; he conjured them
with emotion; he warded off their attacks with emotion; and his
emotions were given rhythmical expression by means of metrical magical
charms.

Poetic imagery had originally a magical significance; if the ocean was
compared to