answer:Consider “Sumer is Icumen In” is the oldest known English poem, yet it’s damn hard to read for a non-scholar. And it’s only 8 centuries old. For something in Aramaic or ancient Chinese or Hindi, it can be damn tough. And the medium will probably make it very difficult; papyrus is fragile, stones get eroded, inscriptions have abbreviations to be deciphered. And letters change, too. Here is the poem with a modern English translation. Sumer is icumen in, Lhude sing cuccu! Groweþ sed and bloweþ med And springþ þe wde nu, Sing cuccu! Awe bleteþ after lomb, Lhouþ after calue cu. Bulluc sterteþ, bucke uerteþ, Murie sing cuccu! Cuccu, cuccu, wel singes þu cuccu; Ne swik þu nauer nu. Pes: Sing cuccu nu. Sing cuccu. Sing cuccu. Sing cuccu nu! Summer has come in, Loudly sing, Cuckoo! The seed grows and the meadow blooms And the wood springs anew, Sing, Cuckoo! The ewe bleats after the lamb The cow lows after the calf. The bullock stirs, the stag farts, Merrily sing, Cuckoo! Cuckoo, cuckoo, well you sing, cuckoo; Don’t ever you stop now, Sing cuckoo now. Sing, Cuckoo. Sing Cuckoo. Sing cuckoo now!