the winged beetle

241 Pages·2008·0.74 MB·English

T W B
HE INGED EETLE
100th Monkey Press
Austin, Texas
2008

“When a critical mass is
achieved within a species, the
behavior is instantaneously
transferred to and exhibited by
all members of the species”
THE WINGED BEETLE
This edition consists of 50 copies on
handmade paper numbered from 1-50,
and 300 copies on ordinary paper
numbered from 51-350.

This copy is No.
THE WINGED BEETLE

BY ALEISTER CROWLEY

“ There is a budding morrow in midnight ”

PRIVATELY PRINTED
1910
I Dedicate this Collection

of Poems

to

JOHN FREDERICK CHARLES FULLER
DEDICATION

Out of the East, out of the East
Didst thou flame forth, O Son of Man,
The chainless champion of the Beast !
A warrior comet, thy plumes fan
The shuddering air’s black wildernesses
To fiends’ insatiate caresses.

Thou camest crowned and helmed and armed,
Sworded, a mighty man of war :
Swayed all the stars, aghast, alarmed
As at the Thunderbolt of Thor !
The very aethyr rocked and shook
At thine indomitable look !

[Here must we utterly restrict
Our theological remarks.
One whom not Heaven could contradict
Says : Now, Sir, if you please, no larks !
Hence for third stanza (with a curse)
I write instead this sorry verse.]

v
vi DEDICATION
Yea, with one song of starry flame
In brilliance of immortal youth
Didst thou stand stedfast and proclaim
Freedom and Ecstasy and Truth,
Erect amid the wreck of Things
Poised on inexorable wings !
. . . .
So much the universe may see
When its bat’s-eyes may endure the sun :
This secret rests my prize to me,
That I knew thee, surpassed of none,
Fighting and faithful to the end,
A Perfect knight, a perfect friend.
CONTENTS

ROSA COELI. To my wife 1
ABJAD-I-AL’AIN. To the memory of “ Alain Lutiy ” 16
THE HERMIT. To Cecil Jones 22
THE WIZARD WAY. To J. F. C. Fuller 24
THE WINGS. To Dot 34
THE GARDEN OF JANUS To V. B. Neuburg 35
THE TWO SECRETS To Mary Waska 45
THE PRIESTESS OF PANORMITA. To Hilda Howard 47
THE HAWK AND THE BABE. To Raymond Radclyffe 55
THE DUELLISTS. To Norah Moore 57
ATHOR AND ASAR. To Frank Harris 60
AFTER JUDGMENT. To Ophelia L—— 61
THE FIVE ADORATIONS. To Gerald Pinsent 64
TELEPATHY. To Euphemia L—— 65
THE SWIMMER. To Norman Mudd 72
THE MUSE. To Kathleen —— 73
THE GOD AND THE GIRL. To Dorothy L—— 75
ROSEMARY. To the memory of “ Hippolytus ” 79
AU BAL. To Horace Sheridan-Bickers 82
DISAPPOINTMENT. To Sadie B—— 83
THE OCTOPUS. To my Mother 85
THE EYES OF DOROTHY. To Dot 86

vii
viii CONTENTS
BATHYLLUS. To Sliman bin Chirch 87
THE MANTRA-YOGI. To Reginald Haselden 91
THE POET AND HIS MUSE. To L. K—— 93
LILITH. To L. K—— 95
SPORT AND MARRIAGE. To my Wife 97
THE TWINS. To A. O. Spare 98
THE CONVERT. To Millicent Tobias 102
THE SORCERESS. To L. K—— 103
THE CHILD. To Lord A—— 105
CLYTIE. To L. K—— 106
A SLIM GILT SOUL. To Lord A—— 110
THE SILENCE OF COLUMBINE. To Dot L—— 112
THE ARCHÆOLOGIST. To Ctesse —— 115
THE LADDER. To K. M. Ward 117
BELLADONNA. To Dot L—— 123
THE POET AT BAY. To Wilfred Merton 126
UT. To Allen Bennett 128
ROSA DECIDUA. To Lord Salvesen 130
THE CIRCLE AND THE POINT. To Ouarda the Seer 141
IN MEMORIAM. 142
AD FIDELEM INFIDELEM. To Elaine W K—— 145
THE SPHINX. To “ The Sphinx ” 146
THE JEW OF FEZ. To Winston Churchill 147
THE PENTAGRAM. To George Raffalovich 149
SONG. To Kathleen K—— 150
AN HYMN. To the Countess of Tankerville 151
PROLOGUE TO RODIN IN RIME. To Kathleen K—— 153