Thelema ScholarTHE ALEISTER CROWLEY COLLECTION
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1899 · PDF PAGE 55

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

…EPHTHAH. Edom and Moab, pitched their weary tent Beyond the bank of Ammon; and they sent Messengers thence to Sihon, Heshbon’s king, The lord of Amorites, and said to him: I prithee, let us pass to our own place Through thy dominions: but his crafty mind, Fearing some treachery, that was not, save In his ill mind that thought it, did determine To gather all his people, and to pitch Tents hostile in the plains before Jahaz. And there he fought with Israel ; but God Delivered Sihon to our hands, and all That followed him: whom therefore we destro…

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1899 · PDF PAGE 88

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

…ard the hollows weird and white, Toward the sorrow of the snow ; To desolation black and blind They move, and leave us death behind. The Lord is great, the Lord is wise Within His temple to foresee

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1899 · PDF PAGE 46

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

…e follow Jephthah to the death. All hail! JEPHTHAH. Go then, refresh yourselves, and sleep to-night. I will send messages to their dread lord Demanding his fell purpose, threatening ‘ My present aid to you with men of valour Chosen of all your tribes, and charging him As he loves life, and victory, to content His army with their present brief success, Lest he pass by the barrier of our suffering, And find our wrath no broken sword, and find Despair more terrible than hope. Go now. A SOLDIER. We go, my lord, less readily to sleep Than if you bad…

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1899 · PDF PAGE 83

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

JEPHTHAH. 61 ADULAH. My father, if thou hast openéd thy mouth Unto the Lord, fulfil the oath to me, Because the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee Of all thine enemies, the Ammonites. Let this be done for me, that I may go Two months upon the mountains, and bewail, I and my fellows, my virginity ! JEPHTHAH. Go! CHORUS OF MAIDENS. O the time of dule and teen! O the dove the hawk has snared ! Fate the cruel and obscene, Fate that snaps us unprepared, We, who else had dared Every mountain cold and keen, Cleft and stricken in between By the joy our…

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1899 · PDF PAGE 120

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

…in the kiss. * * | * * # This writing is engraved on lamina Of silver, found by me, the trusted friend And loving servant of my lady and lord, In that abandoned chapel, late destroyed By Etna’s fury. Nothing else remained (Save in the ante-room the sword we knew So often flashing at the column-head) Within. I think my lord has written this. And for the child, whose rearing is my care, And in whose life is left my single hope, This writing shall conclude the book of song His father made in worship and true love Of his fair lady, and these songs …

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1899 · PDF PAGE 40

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

18 JEPHTHAH. And gathered faithful servitors, and ruled Mightiest in the desert, and was lord Of all the marches where my spear might throw Its ominous shadow between night and noon. Yet always I considered my revenge, And purposed, seeking out those kin of mine, To make them as those kings that Gideon slew Hard by the bloody waters of a brook. _ And now ye call me to your help, forsooth! CHORUS. Let no ill memory of an ancient wrong, Most mighty, edge thy sword _ Against the prayer of this repentant song. Dire sorrow of the Lord Consumes our v…

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1899 · PDF PAGE 17

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

…ringtide burgeoned, and the rosy day Leapt from beneath the splendours of the snow :— ‘Christ, ultimate master of man’s hateful foe, And lord of his own soul and fate, strikes still From man’s own heaven, against the lord of ill ;

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1899 · PDF PAGE 26

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

CHARACTERS. JEPHTHAH. ADULAH, Ais Daughter. JARED, A Gileadtte, cousin to Jephthah. A Prophet of the Lord. ELEAZAR, Chief of the Elders of Israel. AHINOAM, an aged Priest. First Messenger. Second Messenger. First Herald. Second Herald. Soldiers of Jephthah. Soldiers of Israel. Chorus of Elders of Israel. Maidens of Israel. SCENE :—An Open Place before Mizpeh. In the midst an Altar. TiME :—The duration of the play is from noon of the first day to dawn of the third.

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1899 · PDF PAGE 29

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

…l word, and who shall fathom it? | PROPHET. Thy help is from the hills and desert lands. CHORUS. Our help is from the hills: we know the Lord. PROPHET. Death rides most violently against the sun.

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1899 · PDF PAGE 82

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

…tn a dazed, toneless voice. Thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me; for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back. ADULAH. My father, O my father! Enter Eleazar and Chorus. ELEAZAR.| Most welcome, conqueror! [ Jephthah waves him aside, What is this? What is this? CHORUS. Speak, Jephthah, speak! What ill has fallen? Speak! [Szlence. After a little the Chorus of Maidens understand, and break into watling. The old men gradually understand, and fill the atr with incoherent lamentations. BehindJephth…

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1899 · PDF PAGE 63

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

…an evil day is this If ye go forth with such a sacrifice, And vows most hideous in their consequence. SOLDIERS. It is the prophet of the Lord. JEPHTHAH. Possessed By Baal; scourge him hence; he lies, for God With powerful proof and many lightnings came Devouring up the offering at the altar. PROPHET. O Jephthah, it is thou on whom it falls, The sorrow grievous as thy life is dear. A SOLDIER. He is the prophet of the Baalim. We have enough of such: in God’s name, home! [Stabbing him.

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1899 · PDF PAGE 35

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

…l the harsh attack, Nor his followers call, Hear thou, O Most High, give ear To our pitiful complaint: Under woes of war we faint. Pity, Lord of Hosts, our fear! Hear, Most High, oh, hear! ° Enter Messenger. MESSENGER. My lords, take heed now, prayer is good to save - While yet the foemen are far off ; but now They howl and clamour at our very gates. ‘ ELEAZAR. Blaspheme not God, but tell thy woeful news. CHORUS. I fear me for the sorrow that he speaks. MESSENGER. The tribe of Ephraim went forth to fight Armed, and with bows, and turned them ba…

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1899 · PDF PAGE 72

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

…ath, Adulah, white and lissome, with the flames Of dawn forth blushing through her flower-crowned hair. . CHORUS. Behold a virgin to the Lord! Behold a maiden pale as death, Whose glance is silver as a sword, And flowers of Kedar fill her breath, Whose fragrance saturates the sward, Whose sunny perfume floating saith : From my ineffable desire is drawn The awful glory of the golden dawn. Behold her bosom bare and bold Whose billows like the ocean swing! The painted palaces of gold, Where shell-born maidens laugh and sing,

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1899 · PDF PAGE 61

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

… of the light All air with cloudy fragrance fills ; And, born of desolation blind, The young sweet summer burns behind. The Altar of the Lord is set With salt and fire and fervid wine, And toward the east the light is let For shadow for the holiest shrine : One moment hangs the fire of dawn Until the sacrament be sworn. Behold, the priest, our captain, takes The sacred robes, the crown of gold, The light of other sunlight breaks Upon his forehead calm and cold

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1899 · PDF PAGE 27

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

JEPHTHAH. Eleazar. Pvrophet. Chorus. CHORUS. OW is our sin requited of the Lord. For, scorning Jephthah for an harlot’s son, We cast him forth from us, and said: Begone, Thou shalt not enter in with us; thy mouth Shall thirst for our inheritance in vain ; Thou hast no lot nor part in Gilead. And now, he gathers to himself vain men, Violent folk, and breakers of the law, And holds aloof in rocky deserts, where The land, accurst of God, is barren still Of any herb, or flower, or any tree, And has no shelter, nor sweet watersprings, Save where a l…

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1899 · PDF PAGE 51

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

…d us thou shouldst fight for us And save thy people from the Ammonites. JEPHTHAH. Why look you so? He told you other thing. CHORUS. Nay, lord, no saying that we understood. JEPHTHAH. Speak thou its purport ; I may understand. For, know you, in the desert where I dwelt I had strange store of books obscure ; books written Not openly for fools, but inwardly Toward the heart of wise men. And myself Studied no little while upon these things, And, seeking ever solitude, I went Nightly upon a rock that stood alone Threatening the sandy wilderness, and…

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1899 · PDF PAGE 90

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

…y man depart unto his house. CHORUS. He hath made His face as a fire; His wrath as a sword; He hath smitten our soul’s desire; He is the Lord.

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1899 · PDF PAGE 239

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

…’s hand he laid the sword : With reverent ear The poet listened to His word Cleansed through of fear. The brightness of the glory of the Lord Grew adamant, a spear! And when he took the falchion in his hand Lo! kings and princes bowed to his command. 217

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1899 · PDF PAGE 89

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

…, Pass, though they seem to sink in night, To dawns more perdurably bright. So priest and people join to praise The secret wisdom of the Lord, Awaiting the arisen rays That smite through heaven as a sword

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1899 · PDF PAGE 62

Jephthah and Other Mysteries

…t blood eagerly doth glow, And lightnings lick the light, and falter, Feeling the vast Shekinah shine Above their excellence divine. The Lord is gracious to His own, And hides with glory as a mist The sacrifice and smitten stone, And on the lips His presence kissed Burn the high vows with ample flame That He shall swear to by the Name. JEPHTHAH. Highest of Highest, most Concealed of all, Most Holy Ancient One, Unnameable, Receive for these Thy servants this our oath To serve none other gods but Thee alone. And for my own part who am judge of th…

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