The Equinox (Volume III, Number I)

THE EQUINOX 56. And Adonai said: The strong brown reaper swept his swathe and rejoiced. The wise man counted his mus- cles, and pondered, and understood not, and was sad. Reap thou, and rejoice! 57. Then was the Adept glad, and lifted his arm. Lo! an earthquake, and plague, and terror on the earth! A casting down of them that sate in high places; a fam- ine upon the multitude! 58. And the grape fell ripe and rich into his mouth. 59. Stained is the purple of thy mouth, O brilliant one, with the white glory of the lips of Adonai. 60. The foam of the grape is like the storm upon the sea; the ships tremble and shudder; the shipmaster is afraid. 61. That is thy drunkenness, O holy one, and the winds whirl away the soul of the scribe into the happy haven. 62. O Lord God! let the haven be cast down by the fury of the storm! Let the foam of the grape tincture my soul with Thy light! 63. Bacchus grew old, and was Silenus; Pan was ever Pan for ever and ever more throughout the eons. 64. Intoxicate the inmost, O my lover, not the outermost! 65. So was it—ever the same! I have aimed at the peeled wand of my God, and I have hit; yea, I have hit. 70