THE OBSERVER

Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

18 April 1914

(pages 2-3)

POEMS AND RHYMES.

WEDDED.

The roses of the world are sad,

The water-lilies pale,

Because my lover takes her lad

Beneath the moonlit veil.

No flower may bloom this happy hour—

Unless my Alice be the flower.

So silent are the thrush, the lark!

The nightingale's at rest,

Because my lover loves the dark,

And has me in her breast.

No song this happy night be heard!—

Unless my Alice be the bird.

The sea that roared around the house

Is fallen from alarms,

Because my lover calls me spouse,

And takes me to her arms.

This night no sound of breakers be!—

Unless my Alice be the sea.

Of man and maid in all the world

Is still the swift caress,

Because my lover has me curled

In her own loveliness.

No, kiss be such a night at this!—

Unless my Alice be the kiss.

This night—O, never dawn shall crest

The world of wakening,

Because my lover has my breast

On her for dawn and spring.

This night shall never be withdrawn—

Unless my Alice be the dawn.

—From "Ambergris," by Aleister Crowley.