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1922 · PDF PAGE 1

Poetica Erotica

THE ALTAR OF ARTEMIS (By Aleister Crowley. From The Soul of Osiris. 1901) WHERE, in the coppice, oak and pine And mystic yew and elm are found, Sweeping the skies, that grow divine With the dark wind’s despairing sound, The wind that roars from the profound, And smites the mountain-tops, and calls Mute spirits to black festivals, And feasts in valleys iron-bound, Desolate crags, and barren ground;— There in the strong storm-shaken grove Swings the pale censer-fire for love. The foursquare altar, rightly hewn, And overlaid with beaten gold, Stan…

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1922 · PDF PAGE 2

Poetica Erotica

And lovers’ lips, from lips withdrawn, Seek dimmer bosoms till the dawn. Yet on the central altar lies The sacrament of kneaded bread, With blood made one, the sacrifice To those, the living, who are dead— Strange gods and goddesses, that shed Monstrous desires of secret things Upon their worshippers, from wings One lucent web of light, from head One labyrinthine passion-fed Palace of love, from breathing rife With secrets of forbidden life. But not the sunlight, nor the stars, Nor any light but theirs alone, Nor iron masteries of Mars, Nor Sat…

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