Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy

A horizontal row of decorative printer's ornaments (fleurons) is positioned at the top of the page, divided into two groups of ten by a central colon-like mark.

To his special friend Mr. Robert Turner,

on his judicious translation of

Cornelius Agrippa.

As one who has just emerged from a trance,
Amazed by strange sights, whose secret fears
Have scarcely passed, but who—doubting whether he
May trust his own eyes—remains steadfastly
Fixed on those objects; just like him I stand,
Enraptured with amazement to behold what can
By art approach the gods, and far excel
The Angels that dwell in those bright spheres.
Behold Agrippa mounting the lofty skies,
Talking with Gods; and then, in a moment, he pries
Into the earth’s deep cabinet; as if he were Mercury The Roman messenger god, associated with speed, communication, and the hermetic arts.,
All kinds of spirits are his willing subjects.
His book provides even more than this: but we
Blind mortals could in no way be led to see
That light without a candle: therefore, to us,
You must be both an Agrippa and an Oedipus In Greek mythology, Oedipus was the solver of the riddle of the Sphinx; here, it refers to Turner as a solver of difficult mysteries..
Agrippa appears once again, pulled by you
Out of the ashes of antiquity.
Let squint-eyed envy pine away, while you
Wear crowns of praise on your deserving brow.