Collected Works (Vol. III)

THE STAR AND THE GARTER 1904 [The simplicity of this exquisite poem renders all explanations superfluous.| ATNOQ2ZTQ OED* ARGUMENT. THE poet, seated with his lady, perceives (i.) that he is in some disgrace, arguing the same (i.) from a difference in the quality of the subsisting silence. Seeking a cause, he observes (iii) a lady’s garter in one corner of the room. His annoyance is changed (iv.) to joy at the prospect of an argument, and of a better understanding. He will (v.) be frank: no poet truly cares what may happen to him. He sketches (vi.) his argument; but letting fall the word “love” is rapt away into a lyrical transport (vii. and viii.) Further, bidding her (ix.) to fly with him, he points out the value of courage, and its rarity among the bourgeoisie. He calls upon her to awake her own courage, and (x.) bids her embark. His appeal fails, since (xi.) the garter still demands explana- tion. He then shows (xii.) that mental states are not independent of their physical basis, and casts doubt (xiii.) upon Immor- tality and Freewill. He asks her (xiv.) to accommodate herself to the facts instead of wasting life upon an Ideal, and to remember that all his acts truly subserve his love for her. He reinforces this (xv.) by a dis- tinction of the important and the unim- portant, assures her of his deep passion, and appeals to her. He will (xvi.) show her the picture of the owner of the garter, and gives her (xvii.) the first hint that he does not consider her a rival, any more * J.e., Eros. VOL. III. than dinner is a rival. As (xviii.) she cannot grasp that idea, he states it plainly and describes (xix.) the lady whose forget- fulness has caused the whole trouble. The spell broken, as it were, he describes (xx., xxl.) two other mistresses, a model and an acrobat, and then again flings at her (xxii.) the frank question: Are these rivals in Love ? He argues that the resemblances are super- ficial. For (xxiii.) there is no taint of passion in his Love for his Lady. But she (xxiv.) sees that as a fault in her, and offers her person. He refuses it, fearing to de- stroy Love, and proves (xxv.) that sexual intimacy is no truer than virginal intimacy. He recalls (xxvi.) the hour when their love stood confessed and (xxvil.) that in which the first promptings of passion were caught and smothered in a higher ecstasy. He complains (xxvill.) that he should have needed to voice all this, He urges (xxix.) that the necessary duties of sex should be performed elsewhere. But, should those duties become unnecessary, let them voyage to solitude and peace. Or (xxx.) no! it is well to have the ever-present contrast; let us, however, not despise other folk, but pity them, and for this pity’s sake, retire (xxxi.) to meditate, and by this means to achieve the power of redeeming them. He formu- lates lyrically (xxxii.) this conclusion; and sums up the whole (xxxili.), insisting finally on the value of the incident as a stepping- stone to the ultimate. The quotation is from Acts xvii. 23, ‘‘ To the Unknown God.” A