The Founding of Soksu

Oldest document in Jamaira.

Upriver, a stone,
downriver, a tree.
Give me a stone,
and give me a tree.
I will see it sown,
this newfound city.

— Unknown, The Founding of Soksu

The Oldest Written Poem

In the Jamaira's library, there are many rare texts but the oldest one there is a single page with no name. The short poem is only six lines and speaks of the founding of a city - which is believed to be Soksu.
The poem was retrieved from a collection of books when an eccentric collector gave away all his possessions before his death so that his soul would not burden the raft as it journeyed to its next life. In Zinato, books almost never get thrown away, most households have at least one book, many try to have one shelf of books as they are a sign of intellect and bring fortune to those who live under the same roof.
There are several theories about who wrote the poem, though none have more concrete evidence than any other. Based on the stories they were able to gather and comparisons with the few other texts that remain from a similar time period, it could be one of a few poets that were known to live at the time or someone completely lost to history.

Stub Article

This article is just a stub for now and will be expanded upon later.

Old Article

This article was written in the past and does not meet my current standards for any number of article quality, layout, or content.

In-Progress Article

This article is being worked on, perhaps not at this very moment, but it is being worked on.

Swirl of the Quill

The first poet whom the poem was attributed to is unlikely to be the true author. The initial evidence was based on the analysis of the handwriting of the poem and other old books. However, the poet was not only a poet but also a scribe. Their handwriting is found in many of the remaining texts from that time, even though they did not author most of them. The poem may simply be a single page ripped from a lost tome.
Despite not being the author, their work as a scribe survived better than any other from the period and these texts are considered lucky by scholars. It is said that whoever writes by hand - in this age of the printing press - in the same style as them will have their works survive for hundreds of years.

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