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