Aleister Crowley (12 October 1875–1 December 1947 / Warwickshire, England)
Hymn to Lucifer
Ware, nor of good nor ill, what aim hath act?
Without its climax, death, what savour hath
Life? an impeccable machine, exact
He paces an inane and pointless path
To glut brute appetites, his sole content
How tedious were he fit to comprehend
Himself! More, this our noble element
Of fire in nature, love in spirit, unkenned
Life hath no spring, no axle, and no end.
His body a bloody-ruby radiant
With noble passion, sun-souled Lucifer
Swept through the dawn colossal, swift aslant
On Eden's imbecile perimeter.
He blessed nonentity with every curse
And spiced with sorrow the dull soul of sense,
Breathed life into the sterile universe,
With Love and Knowledge drove out innocence
The Key of Joy is disobedience.
Read poems about / on: innocence, passion, sorrow, spring, nature, fire, joy, death, sun, life, love
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In my opinion, this together with 'Hymn to Pan' are the best poems by thy best poet - Aleister Crowley. Can't believe that the last comment on his brilliancy was 2 years ago...
And I also have the whole poem written on the beginning page of my notebook, beneath the unicursal hexagram and the line 'The Key of Joy is disobedience' with darker shrift.
I have this written in my notebook! 'The Key of Joy is Disobedience.' I love that line.