THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY

26 September 1901

(page 27)

BOOKS.

The Coming Poet.

Mr. Aleister Crowley is surely going to be the next idol of the people who have been worshipping Browning. Mr. Crowley has already secured quite a following in England and it is therefore a question of only a short time when he will have people over here guessing. The New York Evening Post has already spoken of his “indubitable talent,” and quotes the following as evidence of his “exceptional lyrical gift”:

THE SPIRIT OF TRAGEDY.

Here, in the home of a friend,

Here, in the mist of a lie,

The pageant moves on to the desolate end

Under a sultry sky.

Noon is upon us, and Night,

Spreading her wings unto flight,

Visits the lands that lie far in the West,

Where the bright East is at peace on her breast;

Opposite quarters unite.

Soon is the nightfall of Destiny here;

Nature's must pass as her hour is gone by.

Only another than she is too near,

Gloom in the sky.

One who can never pass over shall sever

Links that were forged of Love's hand;

Love that was strong die away as a song,

Melt as a cable of sand.

We are ready to admit right here that Crowley is great. We can’t understand what he is driving at, hence it will be idle to question his supremacy as an artist.