APART, immutable, unseen,
Being, before itself had been,
Became. Like dew a triple queen
Shone as the void uncovered:
The silence of deep height was drawn
A veil across the silver dawn
On holy wings that hovered. 1

The music of three thoughts became
The beauty, that is one white flame,
The justice that surpasses shame,
The victory, the splendour,
The sacred fountain that is whirled
From depths beyond that older world
A new world to engender. 2

The kingdom is extended. 3 Night
Dwells, and I contemplate the sight
That is not seeing, but the light
That secretly is kindled,
Though oft-time its most holy fire
Lacks oil, whene’er my own Desire
Before desire has dwindled.

I see the thin web binding me
With thirteen cords of unity 4
Toward the calm centre of the sea.
(O thou supernal mother! 5)
The triple light my path divides
To twain and fifty sudden sides 6
Each perfect as each other.

Now backwards, inwards still my mind
Must track the intangible and blind,
And seeking, shall securely find
Hidden in secret places
Fresh feasts for every soul that strives,
New life for many mystic lives,
And strange new forms and faces.

My mind still searches, and attains
By many days and many pains
To That which Is and Was and reigns
Shadowed in four and ten; 7
And loses self in sacred lands,
And cries and quickens, and understands
Beyond the first Amen. 8


Note 1. A qabalistic description of Macroprosopus. ‘Dew,’ ‘Deep Height,’ &c., are his titles.
Note 2. Microprosopus.
Note 3. Malkuth, the Bride. In its darkness the Light may yet be found.
Note 4. The Hebrew characters composing the name Achd, Unity, add up to 13.
Note 5. Binah, the Great Deep: the offended Mother who shall be reconciled to her daughter by Bn, the Son.
Note 6. Bn adds to 52.
Note 7. Jehovah, the name of 4 letters, 1+2+3+4=10.
Note 8. The first Amen is = 91 or 7 x 13. The second is the Inscrutable Amoun.

Nicholson & Lee, eds. The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse. 1917.