The Psalter of the Quatrains, Cantos VIII-XII - The Tree and the Cross

Dcn. Seraphim reads cantos eight through twelve of the Saltair na Rann in a single great sweep: the whole story of Adam and Eve, from the serpent in the garden to the skull beneath the Cross. The Devil, envious that this creature of clay is bound for the heaven he has lost, works the Fall; Adam and Eve do penance standing in the cold rivers; and the Devil comes a second time, disguised as an angel of light, to deceive them again — and then turns and laments what he has done in the haunting cry, "Dost thou remember, O Adam." We follow Cain and Abel and the gift of Seth, and the death of Adam, down to the moment the first man's skull is buried at Golgotha, where one day the Cross will stand in his very grave.