Rise to the peak of the ladder
Where the ghosts of the planets feast –
Out of the reach of the adder –
Never beyond the Beast.
He is there, in the abyss brooding,
Where the nameless black fires fall;
He is there, in the stars intruding,
Where the sun is a silver ball.
Beyond all weeping or revel,
He lurks in the cloud and the sod;
He grips the doors of the Devil
And the hasp on the gates of God. Build and endeavor and fashion –
Never can you escape
The blind black brutish passion –
The lust of the primal Ape.