The Equinox (Volume III, Number I)

THE EQUINOX 39. Thou hast fastened the fangs of Eternity in my soul, and the Poison of the Infinite hath consumed me utterly. 40. I am become like a luscious devil of Italy; a fair strong woman with worn cheeks, eaten out with hunger for kisses. She hath played the harlot in divers palaces; she hath given her body to the beasts. 41. She hath slain her kinsfolk with strong venom of toads; she hath been scourged with many rods. 42. She hath been broken in pieces upon the Wheel; the hands of the hangman have bound her unto it. 43. The fountains of water have been loosed upon her; she hath struggled with exceeding torment. 44. She hath burst in sunder with the weight of the waters; she hath sunk into the awful Sea. 45. Soam I, O Adonai, my lord, and such are the waters of Thine intolerable Essence. 46. So am I, O Adonai, my beloved, and Thou hast burst me utterly in sunder. 47. Iam shed out like spilt blood upon the mountains; the Ravens of Dispersion have borne me utterly away. 48. Therefore is the seal unloosed, that guarded the Eighth abyss; therefore is the vast sea as a veil; therefore is there a rending asunder of all things. 49. Yea, also verily Thou art the cool still water of the wizard fount. I have bathed in Thee, and lost me in Thy stillness. 50. That which went in as a brave boy of beautiful limbs cometh forth as a maiden, as a little child for perfection. 51. O Thou light and delight, ravish me away into the milky ocean of the stars! 80