64
THE STAR IN THE WEST
from
a virgin ; falling at once
a prey to a bedizened
old prostitute
of sixty-three .
Those who
should
think the
passion
displayed
in
this tale as unbecoming
and lustful, must indeed have
minds composed of dung and cantharides
, disappointed
sterile old maids , or sated old matrons , pornophobics
of the worst description
.
We
know well
the
class ,
half Exeter Hall , half Empire Music -hall ;
“ douée "
(as a charming
little
French
brochure
describes
one
of
this
type ),
“
du
plus
voluptueux
tempérament
courut
longtemps
les aventures
.
mais ses ans et
le grand
usage
altérèrent
ses charmes , et elle prit le
parti ordinaire, de donner à Dieu ce qu'elle
ne pouvait
plus
offrir aux
hommes , et pleura
dans
l'hypocrisie
trente
ans
d'amour
et de
plaisir .”
We
know
the
type well , and so does Aleister Crowley ; his Angela ,
before
she fell into the boiling
sulphuric
acid , which
was being
prepared
to remove her enamel , was presi
dent of a Zenana
Mission .
Love is , as must now be apparent , an
all
engross
ing theme
in
the
poetry
of
Aleister Crowley
,
every
phase almost
meeting with
an
illustration
.
We have
seen
the
flatulent
love
of
youth
,
and
its
counterpart
in
the divine poetic
sincerity
of
Charicles
and Archais
;
we will
now
view
it
in
its
maturer
form
,
and
firstly
,
in
the form
of
true
and
sincere
love
,
unconventional
and
pure
,
whether
under
the
bond
of
marriage
,
or
under
the boundless
bond
of
free
love
,
between two
souls
of
similar affinity
.
True
love
is
a
pure
,
unal
loyed attraction
,
urging two souls from their inherited
duality into their
inherent
oneness
,
that
all
are
cap
able
of
attaining
,
and yet
so
few attain
;
and
it
is
on
account
of
the fewness
of
its
adepts
,
that the magic
of
their
worship has
become
to
the clouded
eyes
of