FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   494   495   496   497   498   499   500   501   502   503   504   505   506   507   508   509   510   511   512   513   514   515   516   517   518  
519   520   521   522   523   524   525   526   527   528   529   530   531   532   533   534   535   536   537   538   539   540   541   542   543   >>   >|  
Smelling of aloes, myrrh, and cinnamon! SIMON. But the dishonor, Helen! Let the ships Of Tarshish howl for that! HELEN. And what dishonor? Remember Rahab, and how she became The ancestress of the great Psalmist David; And wherefore should not I, Helen of Tyre, Attain like honor? SIMON. Thou art Helen of Tyre, And hast been Helen of Troy, and hast been Rahab, The Queen of Sheha, and Semiramis, And Sara of seven husbands, and Jezebel, And other women of the like allurements; And now thou art Minerva, the first Aeon, The Mother of Angels! HELEN. And the concubine Of Simon the Magician! Is it honor For one who has been all these noble dames, To tramp about the dirty villages And cities of Samaria with a juggler? A charmer of serpents? SIMON. He who knows himself Knows all things in himself. I have charmed thee, Thou beautiful asp: yet am I no magician, I am the Power of God, and the Beauty of God! I am the Paraclete, the Comforter! HELEN. Illusions! Thou deceiver, self-deceived! Thou dost usurp the titles of another; Thou art not what thou sayest. SIMON. Am I not? Then feel my power. HELEN. Would I had ne'er left Tyre! He looks at her, and she sinks into a deep sleep. SIMON. Go, see it in thy dreams, fair unbeliever! And leave me unto mine, if they be dreams, That take such shapes before me, that I see them; These effable and ineffable impressions Of the mysterious world, that come to me From the elements of Fire and Earth and Water, And the all-nourishing Ether! It is written, Look not on Nature, for her name is fatal! Yet there are Principles, that make apparent The images of unapparent things, And the impression of vague characters And visions most divine appear in ether. So speak the Oracles; then wherefore fatal? I take this orange-bough, with its five leaves, Each equidistant on the upright stem; And I project them on a plane below, In the circumference of a circle drawn About a centre where the stem is planted, And each still equidistant from the other, As if a thread of gossamer were drawn Down from each leaf, and fastened with a pin. Now if from these five points a line be traced To each alternate point, we shall obtain The Pentagram, or Solomon's Pentangle, A charm against all witchcraft, and a sign, Which on the banner of Antiochus Drove back the fierce barbarian
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   494   495   496   497   498   499   500   501   502   503   504   505   506   507   508   509   510   511   512   513   514   515   516   517   518  
519   520   521   522   523   524   525   526   527   528   529   530   531   532   533   534   535   536   537   538   539   540   541   542   543   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

equidistant

 

things

 

dishonor

 

wherefore

 

dreams

 

impression

 

unapparent

 

divine

 

characters

 

visions


nourishing
 

elements

 
effable
 

ineffable

 
impressions
 

mysterious

 

Oracles

 

Principles

 

apparent

 

written


Nature

 
images
 

circumference

 

obtain

 

Pentagram

 

Solomon

 

points

 
traced
 

alternate

 

Pentangle


Antiochus
 

fierce

 

barbarian

 

banner

 

witchcraft

 

fastened

 

project

 
upright
 

leaves

 

orange


circle
 
gossamer
 

thread

 

centre

 

planted

 

Angels

 

Mother

 

concubine

 
Magician
 

allurements