THE MOTHER
141
Force , ” we find
that
of Motherhood .
The true
wife
must
sacrifice
her
children
before
the
shrine
of her
lover , and the true mother
must sacrifice
her lover
on
the altar of her
children .
This
is
no
paradox ,
no
riddle , no twisting of words ; for Crowley offers us in
the glittering chalice
of Eternity the
sacred blood of
the
Bull ,
the
Second
Christ ;
and
as
the
first,
the
Lamb of God, sprang from
the
immaculate
womb of
the Virgin -Mother , so
shall
this
second
incarnation
spring blood -red
from
the
snowy lips
of the great
Supernal
Mother , androgynous, the Circe - Isis of the
ages .
In “ Alice , an Adultery ,” we see a woman
passionate
in her love , strenuous
in her
affection , yet in the end
failing by abandoning her lover for her children .
Not
so , however
, in
“ Rosa Inferni ,” wherein
we feel, as
we
read , a ferocity
of passion
which
burns
into
us
like a hail of molten
glass :
Aha ! the veil is riven !
Beneath
the smiling
mask of a young
bride
Languorous
, luscious , melancholy
-eyed ;
Beneath
the gentle
raptures , hints celestial
Of holy secrets , kisses like soft dew ,
Beneath
the amorous
mystery , I view
The surer shape , a visage grim and bestial ,
A purpose
sly and deadly , a black
shape ,
A tiger snarling , or a grinning ape
Resolved
by every devilish
device
Upon my murder . 1
A vampire
she rises over her lover :
I see below
the beautiful
low brow
(Low too for cunning , like enough !) your
lips ,
A scarlet
splash of murder .
From
them drips
This heart's
blood ; you have fed your
fill
on
me
.?
1
Rosa Inferni
,
vol
.
iii,
p
.
91.
,
2
Ibid
.
vol
.
iii
,
p.
92
.