XXXII
Lapy, awake the dread abyss
Of knowledge in impassioned eyes!
Fathom the gulphs of awful bliss
With the poised plummet of a kiss!
Love hath the arcanum of the wise;
Love is the elixir, love the stone;
The rosy tincture shall arise
Out of its shadowy cadences.
Love is the Work, and love alone
Rewards the ingenious alchemist.
Chaste fervours chastely overthrown
Awake the infinite monotone.
So, Lady, if thy lips I kissed ;
So, lady, if in eyes of steel
I read the steady secret, wist
Of no gray ghosts moulded of mist;
72