The Star in the West

THE VIRGIN 87 How long , O Lord , how long ? Too long by half Till men read , wondering , wedlock's epitaph.' Aleister Crowley is but editor of these magnificent sonnets ; let us now see how the ideas in his own poems correspond . In the case of Nina, we have already seen that a good heart can throb in a lewd little breast , and can overcome all except a false society ; which overwhelms it not by bravery , or craft , or even by cunning , but by the dull and stunning power of a leaden club . In the “ Honourable Adulterers " we find a poem strik ingly reminiscent of “ Alice ," a boundless , and what Ydgrunites would call “ an illicit love ,” but more , a well - aimed shaft against the horrors of the social marriage tie , which is denominated as “ The devilish circle of the fiery ring ,” which , as their love grew , “ Became one moment like a little thing .” If I am right , the heart of this poem bleeds gener ous indignation against the marriage bond . We read : It was no wonder when the second day Showed me a city on the desert way , Whose brazen gates were open , where within I saw a statue for a sign of sin , And saw the people come to it and pray , Before its mouth set open for a gin.3 Before this statue he is brought ; her bronze and chilly loins are girded with the sacred gold of lust , her lips are lecherous and large , inviting to kiss : But somehow blood was black upon them ; blood In stains and clots and splashes ; and the mud · Alice , an Adultery , vol . ii, p . 82 . 2 The authorship , however , is acknowledged in vol . ii, which was published after this chapter was written . Mysteries : Lyrical and Dramatic , vol . i, p . 99 . 3