Collected Works (Vol. II)

THE ARGONAUTS PELIAS. To proof, then, boy. I lay. my sceptre by, Put off my crown, descend the steps to thee. Here is my breast. Look firmly in my face, . i And slay me. Is there fear writ large and deep In mine old eyes? Or shudderest thou with fear? JASON. More hate than fear. In sooth, I cannot strike. ' PELIAS, A kingis not so slain—except a madman May fall upon him with averted head.? Indeed, I conquer. [Aszde.] Even so, beware! oe Victory ill-nurtured breeds the babe defeat. [Aloud.] Listen, my brother’:s son!- Nay, stoop not so, — Bending ashaméd brows upon the earth ! I am well weary of the world of men. I grow both old and hateful to myself, Most on the throne: power which to youth is sweet To age looks fearful. Also I have wept— Alas ! how often !—and repented me. Of those unkingly deeds whereby I gained This throne whose joy is turned to bitterness. I will make peace with thee, and justice still Shall have a home and shrine in Thessaly. Be patient notwithstanding! Prove thyself Valiant and wise—and reign here! If in sooth . An aged counsellor, whose reverend hair Commands a hearing, may assist at all, Wisdom to wisdom added, I am here. Yet would I rather slide into my grave, Untroubled with the destinies of states, Even of such an one so dear to me Who thus a score of years have nurtured it. 1 These two lines are directly taken from Eliphaz Levi. JASON, I hear thee. Thou art grown like royal wine : Better with age. Forgive my violence ! PELIAS. [Aszde.] The fish bites hard. [A/oud.] There is a prophecy : ‘“QOnce stirred, Iolchus never shall know peace Tillin its temple hangs the Golden Fleece.” Now thou hast so disquieted our days, The time is come: seek thou Aea’s? isle, And hang this trophy on our temple walls ! - JASON. Tell me what iiS - s this fleece. PELIAS. Let women sing. WOMEN. In Ares’ grove, the sworded trees, The world’s heart wondering, © Hangs evermore the Golden Fleece,’ The glory of the spring, The light of far Aea’s coast. Such glamour as befits a ghost. Before that glittering woof the Sun Shrinks back abashed in shame, The splendour of the shining one, One torrent-fleece of flame! What heart may think, what tongue may sing The glory of the golden thing ? 1 Colchis, a county of Asia, bounded on the | W. by the Euxine, on the N. by the Caucasus, and on the E. by the Iberia. Aeaea. . 2 The symbolism of the Fleece and its guardians is curious. The Fleece is of (7) Aries the Ram, the sign of the spring. The sun being exalted in this sign, the fleeceis called golden. Ares or Mars (4) is in Astrology the ruler of this sign. His other house is Scorpio (1) the Dragon. The whole legendis thus a glyph of the Magnum Opus. That Crowley neglects this is a significant mark of the change to his maturer manner. Distinguish from