The Sword of Song

THE SWORD OF SONG 56 all the maddest, fiercest vices that the mind of fiends ever brought up from the pit. But always to the very end his power is un- exhausted, immense, terrible. H is delerium does not amuse ; it appals ! A man who could conceive as he did must himself have had some glorious chord in his heart vibrating to the eternal principle of Boundless Love. That this love was wrecked is for me, in some sort a relative of his, a real and bitter sorrow. He might have been so great ! He missed Heaven ! Think kindly of him ! 169. Correctly rhymes.41—Such lines, how- ever noble in sentiment, as: “ À bas les Anglais ! The Irish up !” w ill not be admitted to the competition. Irish is accented on the penultimate—bad cess ot the bloody Saxons that made it so ! The same with Tarshish (see Browning, Pippa Passes, II., in the long speech of Blu- phocks) and many others. 173. The liar Copleston.42*—Bishop of Cal- * Copies were sent to any living per sons mentioned in the “Sword of Song,” accompanied by the follow-ing letter: Letters an d Teleg rams: BOLESKINE FOYERS is sufficient address. Bills, Writs, Sum monses, etc. : CAMP XI, THE BALTORO GLACIER, BALTISTAN O Millionaire ! My lord Marquis, Mr. Editor ! My lord Viscount, Dear Mrs Eddy, My lord Earl, Your Holiness the Pope ! My lord, Your Imperial Majesty ! My lord Bishop, Your Majesty ! Reverend sir, Your Royal Highness ! Sir, Dear Miss Corelli, Fellow, My lord Cardinal, Mr. Congressman, My lord Archbishop, Mr. Senator, My lord Duke, Mr President (or the feminine of any of these), as shown by underlining it, Courtesy demands, in view of the (a) tribute to your genius (b) attack on your (1) political (2) moral (3) social (4) mental (5) physical character (c) homage to your grandeur (d) reference to your conduct (e) appeal to your finer feelings on page —— of my masterpiece, “The Sword of Song,” that I should send you a copy, as I do here- with, to give you an oppor tunity of defending your-self against m y m onstrous asser tions, thanking me for the advertisment, or——in short, replying as may best seem to you to suit the case. Your humble, obedient servant, ALEISTER CROWLEY. cutta. While holding the see of Ceylon he wrote a book in which “Buddhism” is de- scribed as consisting of “devil-dances.” Now, when a man, in a postion to know the facts, writes a book of the subscription-cadging type, whose value for the purpose depends on the suppression of these facts, I think I am to be commended for my moderation in using the term “liar.” 212. Ibsen.42—Norwegian dramatist. This and the next sentence have nineteen distinct meanings. As, however, all (with one doubt- ful exception) are truem and taken together synthetically connote my concept, I have let the passage stand. 219. I was Lord Roberts, he De Wet.44—Vide Sir A. Conan Doyle’s masterly fiction, “The Great Boer War.” 222. Hill.45—An archaic phrase signifying kopje. 223. Ditch.46—Probably an obsolete slang term for spruit. 273. Some.47—The reader may search modern periodicals for this theory. 282. The Tmolian.48—Tmolus, who decided the musical contest between Pan and Apollo in favour of the latter. 321. As masters teach.49—Consult Viveka- nanda, op. cit., or t he Hathayoga Pradi- pika. Unfortunately, I am unable to say where (or even whether) a copy of this latter work exists. 331, 332. Stand (Stephen) or sit (Paul).50— Acts vii. 36 ; Heb. xii, 2. 337. Samadhi-Dak.51—“Ecstasy-of-medita- tion mail.” 338. Maha-Meru.52—The “mystic moun- tain” of the Hindus. See Southey’s Curse of Kehama. 339. Gaurisankar.53—Called also Chomo- kankar, Devadhunga, and Everest. 341. Chogo.54—The Giant. This is the native name of “K 2” ; or Mount Godwin-Austen, as C ol. G odwin-Austen w ould call it. It is the second highest known mountain in the world, as Devadhunga is the first. 356. The History of the West.55— De Acosta (José) Natural and Moral His- tory of the Indies. Alison, Sir A. . History of Scotland. Benzoni . . . History of the New World. Buckle . . . H istory of Civilisation. Burton, J. H . . History of Scotland. Carlyle . . . History of Frederick the Great. Carlyle . . . Ol iver Cromwell. Carlyle . . . Pas t and Present. Cheruel, A. . . Dictionnaire historique de la France. Christian, P . . Histoire de al Magie