The Rose and the Cross, by Aleister Crowley

The Rose and the Cross

OUT of the seething cauldron of my woes,
Where sweets and salt and bitterness I flung;
Where charmè d music gathered from my tongue,
And where I chained strange archipelagoes
Of fallen stars; where fiery passion flows
A curious bitumen; where among
The glowing medley moved the tune unsung
Of perfect love: thence grew the Mystic Rose.

Its myriad petals of divided light;
Its leaves of the most radiant emerald;
Its heart of fire like rubies. At the sight
I lifted up my heart to God and called:
How shall I pluck this dream of my desire?
And lo! There shaped itself the Cross of Fire!

poems.one - Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley