The Star in the West

250 THE STAR IN THE WEST Master , the night is falling yet again . I hear dim tramplings of unholy forces : I see the assembly of the foully slain : The scent of murder steams : riderless horses Gallop across the earth , and seek the inane : The sun and moon are shaken in their courses : The kings are gathered , and the vultures fall Screaming , to hold their ghastly festival .' The search after Mystery is finely described in the opening dedication of “ The Songs of the Spirit " : Mine was the holy fire that drew Its perfect passion from the dew , And all the flowers that blushed and blew On sunny slopes by little brooks . Mine the desire that brushed aside The thorns, and would not be denied , And sought, more eager than a bride , The cold grey secret wan and wide of sacred books .2 It is in this search that the soul unfurls its wings and sweeps into the infinite ether of existence , bending its course towards God in its own unutterable ideal . With burning eyes intent to penetrate The black circumference , and find out God . 3 In “ The Alchemist , ” or in that beautiful poem “ The Farewell of Paracelsus to Aprile .” “ Struggling in vain to what one hopes the best ." 4 We find this larger hope is here the keynote , as it is in so many of Crowley's poems ; to mention perhaps the most noted , we find this sacred flame flashing forth in " Aceldama ," “ Paracelsus ," " The Ultimate Voyage ," " The Name less Quest ," “ The Neophyte ,” and in “ Tannhäuser .” i Jephthah , vol . i, p . 66 . 2 Songs of the Spirit , vol . i, p . 29 . 3 Ibid . vol . i, p . 32 . * Ibid . vol . i, p. 40 .