The Winged Beetle

162 THE WILD ASS Wakes the lost life. I see him dress The godhead. Up he bounds and brays :— The wild ass of the wilderness, The soul that sees, the soul that slays ! Inhabit the untrodden ways, Set ! Thou my god and I thy priest, Thy temple hidden in the haze Of deserts death to god or beast ! Thou who art both shalt foin and feast With me who am both, thy hate’s co-heir, Lord of the West and of the East— The scorpion’s hole, the lion’s lair ! I kissed his mouth—sublime despair ! Our souls were one ; our bodies met— Yea ! darkness cover everywhere The secret of the House of Set !