The Star in the West

42 THE STAR IN THE WEST from Aleister Crowley's war against poetic form , to his adoration of poetic imagery ; and then to the keynote of the whole of his poetry, and , as we shall presently see , his philosophy as well , namely --- Ecstasy . In “ Gargoyles ” we find several truly wonderful picture poems . Thus in “ The White Cat ”: Hail , sweet my sister ! hail , adulterous spouse , Gilded with passionate pomp , and gay with guilt : Rioting , rioting in the dreary house With blood and wine and roses splashed and spilt About thy dabbling feet , and aching jaws Whose tongue licks mine , twin asps like moons that curl , Red moons of blood ! Whose catlike body claws , Like a white swan raping a jet - black girl , Mine , with hysteric laughter And the following four verses in " Saida ” superb : The spears of the night at her onset Are lords of the day for a while , The magical green of the sunset , The magical blue of the Nile . Afloat are the gales In our slumberous sails On the beautiful breast of the Nile . are We have swooned through the midday exhausted By the lips -- they are whips - of the sun , The horizon befogged and befrosted By the haze and the grays and the dun Of the whirlings of sand Let loose on the land By the wind that is born of the sun . Thrilled through to the marrow with heat We abode ( as we glode ) on the river . Every arrow he launched from his seat , Gargoyles , vol . iii, p . 86 .