The Nameless Quest in The Gate of the Sanctuary from The Temple of the Holy Ghost (Collected Works, Vol I) by Aleister Crowley.

“THE king was silent. In the blazoned hall
Shadows, more mute than at a funeral
True mourners, waited, waited in the gloom;
Waited to hear what child was in the womb
Of his high thoughts. As dead men were we all;
As dead men wait the trumpet in the tomb.
The king was silent. Tense the high-strung air
Must save itself by trembling—if it dare.
Then a lone shudder ran across the space;
Each man ashamed to see his fellow’s face,
Each troubled and confused. He did not spare
Our fear—he spake not yet a little space.” [via]

Consider also:

  1. “‘Even I myself–my youth within me said: Go, seek this folly; fear not for the dead, And God is with thine arm! I reached the ridge, And saw the river and the ghastly bridge I told you of. Even then, even there, I fled. Nor knight, nor king–a miserable midge! ‘Yet from my shame I dare not turn and run. My oath grows urgent as my days are done. Almost mine hour is on me: for its sake I tell you this, as if my heart should break:– The infinite desire–a burning sun! The listening fear–the sun-devouring snake!'”
  2. “The quest is mine! Here ends mortality In contemplating the eternal Thee.”
  3. “A hollow voice from every quarter cries: ‘O thou, zelator of this Paradise, Tell thou the secret of the pillar! None Can hear thee, of the souls beneath the sun. Speak, or the very Godhead in thee dies. For we are many and thy name is One.'”
  4. “He gladdened then. I would not slip again, And baulk the death of half its shame and pain. I, his best sword, must fall, in earnest fight. The old despair was coward–he was right. Now, king, I pay your debt. A purple stain Hides his laced throat–I sober at the sight.”
  5. “I passed, confounded, lifeless as the clay, Somewhere I knew not. Many a dismal league Of various terror wove me its intrigue, And many a demon daunted: day by day Death dogged despair, and misery fatigue.”