THE ST. JAMES'S GAZETTE

London, England

2 March 1899

(page 11)

THE FLOWING TIDE OF VERSE.—II.

“Songs of the Spirit” (Kegan Paul) proves that Mr. Aleister Crowley has read his Swinburne.

Like snows on the mountain, unlifted

By weather or wind as it blows

In hollows the heaps of it drifted,

The splendor of fathomless snows;

So measure and meaning are shifted to fashion a rose.

Mr. Crowley has a large vocabulary and considerable metrical skill. At present he does not seem careful to consider the meaning, and some of his pieces are nearly akin to verbiage. He has imagination, however; and not infrequently, the poet’s touch.