In praise of Agni

Hymns of the Atharva Veda, by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1895], at sacred-texts.com

p. a222

HYMN XLIX

In praise of Agni

1O Agni, in thy body man hath never found a wounded part.
  The Ape devours the arrow's shaft as a cow eats her after-
   birth.
2Thou like a fleece contractest and expandest thee what time the
   upper stone and that below devour.
  Closely compressing head with head and breast with breast he
   crunches up the tendrils with his yellow jaws.
3The Eagles have sent forth their voice aloud to heaven: in the
   sky's vault the dark impetuous ones have danced.
  When they come downward to repair the lower stone, they,
   dwellers with the Sun, have gained abundant seed.