XIX

13.

Could I forget, would I forget ?
Lucifer, you have queens about you now,
Helen and Guinivere; Semiramis

orders her servants to direct the prow
toward Egypt- is it Egypt ?
I will know to-night, when I escape

and stand within my circle, I marked it out,
according to the book, at first,
but now I see it in my mind, it is invisible,
though
and the letters, are like jewels in my hair;
I would espouse your cause and see it good,
for I have understood at last,

the hints and pauses of our visitors,
the sudden turn the talk takes
whenever I appear, but shamless or inspired,

over-heard them talking while I waited at the door
I heard, waiting a moment by the half-open door,
"he had strange traffic with daemonic powers,
they said, " and spirits of the dead."

and stand within my circle; I marked it out
at first, but now it is invisible, though its letter
though its letters, copied from my uncle's book,

shine in the darkness, to invoke the Sephirs; I would espouse your cause and find it good, for I have understood at last,

XXI

I5.

When Hugh's away at sea, I climb the stair,
the triangles and hexagons have grown dim ; /cross
the pentagon, the circle and the four marks of the cross

have disappeared, but they are all inscribed
within my heart, the Tree of Life or Trees,
the pathways and the planets with their signs ;

I can follow on from Mars to Venus,
to Jupiter, to Saturn, to the Crown, Kether ,
and down again past Daath, past Mercury

to the core and root, Malkuth,
and on past the Dark Queen upon the throne,
Beth is her name or the letter for her, after Aleph,

the priest or the magician by the altar;
there are the old prints in my uncle's book,
but I need not consult them any more ;

I know one of the Trees is Rigour, one is Mercy,
and in between the two, the Tree of balance,
equilibrium
leads on the Tiphereth, the Sun.

XXII

16.

For all the thrones and letters spell one story.
and only one, Love is the altar that we burn upon;

did he find that, after his frantic quest,
experiments, his journeys and the search

everywhere in old books, Latin and Hebrew texts ?
Hugh helped when he was here, he told me how they kept
they kept (helped)
a sanctum in his house, above the river,
with astrolabe and crucible and a group, (space)

dedicated to a secret cult of Night ;
we talked of this and of our uncle's alchemy (about,"
and his disgrace; "find out for me what it was all about
I asked my cousin with false negligence,

"I want to know, I'll put away the book,
I promise not to read it any more,

or only now and then, consult it for a name
that comes and goes, not quite remembered,

and not quite forgot" ( I laughed)
"that I must exorcise."

17.

XXIII

"Now, tell me everything, Hugh, everything,"
"no woman should explore these devious rites,
no girl like you" ;

"our uncle blessed me with the angels' names,
I found them in the book and now its clear,
he watches over us, he knows - "

"knows what ?" "the Secret and the Sanctum,
how we met - I did not really know his name
till Agatha and Peter spoke of it,

after they took him; then I saw the part
he played in history, learned the plot;
you yourself spoke of this,

one night across the candles, at the table,
he honoured his *parole*, you said -"
"my Lizeth, are you mad ? "

"he came and went - you yourself said,
he bribed the gate-keepers, you yourself said,
he came and went, but never far -"

"but this was an impostor -" "no,no- for Peter knew him-"
"knew Sir Walter ?" "O, do not speak the name,
perhaps another, an angel took his shape -"

"you mean a devil-" "its written in the book
they mean -" "but angels manifest sometimes, in forms of men -"
"better it was Sir Walter than your delerium
of angels in -" "of angels in mens forms."

"you mean a devil-" "but angels manifest sometimes
in forms of men -" "better it was Sir Walter
than your delerium of angels in mens forms."

24 18.

XXIV

Tiphereth is beauty in that book,
the center and the Sun, an altar in the temple,
the shadow outline of an upright man;

can this be blasphemy ? Then what is beauty ?
it is a square room and a bed within,
a square within a square, geometry,

the absolute answer to all alchemy ;
he prowls along the narrow corridors,
at the foot, the bed-side and the other side,

and as I lie waiting, I seem to see
myself, worshipping at the altar;
Semiramis, did I say, orders her servants

to direct the prow toward Egypt ?
that was fantasy, but we are here;
this is Elizabeth Dyer,

we are in-time, to-day,
the past can neither add nor take away
from that small room, a square within a square.