The World’s Tragedy

THE GARDEN OF EROS. I5 All the boy’s undulant grace To the nymph’s fantastic face ; All the maiden’s chaste delight To the flushed hermaphrodite ; While the balanced strength of man Bears its witness unto Pan. CHRYSIS Ah, the purple vein that glows Through the eyelids as they close ! Hush ! the breeze that fans the fern Bids the midnight moon to turn. We must sleep Soft and deep : We must wake — and bathe — and burn. The company being asleep, fallen lax in mid-caress, there enter a Philosopher Heracleitus and his Disciple Chrysippus. HERACLEITUS Look, my darling, and confess Life one flame of loveliness ! CHRYSIPPUS Master ! Master ! How fairy fond Is yonder maid like a lily-frond !