Call of the Sylphs_a  

From "Oracles"
Collected Works ii p. 19

Behold, I am; a circle on whose hands
The twelvefold Kingdom of my Godhead stands.
Six are the mighty seats of living breath,
The rest sharp sickles,_b or the horns of death,
Which are, and are not, save in my own power.
Sleep they? They rise at mine appointed hour.
I made ye stewards_c in the primal day,
And set your thrones in my celestial way.
I gave you power above the moving time
That all you vessels to my crown might climb.
From all the corners of your fortress caves
Ye might invoke me, and your wise conclaves_d
Should pour the fires on increase, life and birth.
Continual dewfall to the thirsty earth.
Thus are ye made of Justice and of Truth,
The Souls of Fury and the Lords of Ruth._e
In His great Name, your God's, I say, arise!
Behold! His mercies murmur in the skies.
His Name is mighty in us to the end.
In Him we cry: Move, answer, and descend!
Apply yourselves to us; arise! For why?
We are the Wisdom of your God most high!

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      a This Fragment is a paraphrase of one of the elemental invocations given in Dr. Dee's famous record of magical working. (Note by the Poet in Collected Works ii p. 19.) ("paraphrase" means a rewritten piece after some original manuscript.)

     b sickles: the crescend, rounded knifes used for cutting corn and herbs.

     c stewards: "butlers," "house-hold masters," and the like.

     d conclaves: "a private apartment," "something border off from the surroundings."

     e Ruth: "compassion," "sorrow," and the like.

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