Analysis of The Rose and the Cross

Aleister Crowley 1875 (Leamington Spa) – 1947 (Hastings)



Out of the seething cauldron of my woes,
Where sweets and salt and bitterness I flung;
Where charmed music gathered from my tongue,
And where I chained strange archipelagoes
Of fallen stars; where fiery passion flows
A curious bitumen; where among
The glowing medley moved the tune unsung
Of perfect love: thence grew the Mystic Rose.

Its myriad petals of divided light;
Its leaves of the most radiant emerald;
Its heart of fire like rubies. At the sight
I lifted up my heart to God and called:
How shall I pluck this dream of my desire?
And lo! there shaped itself the Cross of Fire!


Scheme ABBAABBA CXCXDD
Poetic Form
Metre 1101010111 1101010011 111010111 011111 11011100101 010010101 0101010101 1011110101 11001010101 1110110010 11110110101 1101111101 11111111010 01110101110
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 581
Words 107
Sentences 6
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 233
Words per stanza (avg) 53
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
120

Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley, born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, and mountaineer. more…

All Aleister Crowley poems | Aleister Crowley Books

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