THE VIRGIN
95
Ah , if pure
love could grow material !
There are pure women
!
and this is her answer :
There you make
me laugh !
Remember-I have known such .
But besides
You ask hot snow and leaden
feather - flights ! 1
Which contains
a great truth , namely , that platonic
love is no love at
all
.
An affection
it
may
be
,
but love
it
cannot be
if
it
dare not see its form mirrored
in
the
eyes
of
a
loving
woman
.
Its failure
in
the
end
is
a
certainty
;
certain ascetics may compel their wills
to
conquer their
natures
,
but
men
as
a
whole
cannot
.
Certain
maniacs
such
as
Origen
may
emasculate
themselves for
the
Kingdom
of
God
,
but
the
great
human masses
will
let
the Kingdom
of
God
go
to
the
Devil
,
if
a
pretty pair
of
lips
is
in
question
.
Not for
long
in
any case
can we change our natures
,
as
the
anchorites
of
the Libyan
deserts only
too
fearfully
proved
;
boiling
with
carnalities
they feared
to
see
their own mothers
,
and were even forbidden
to
keep
in
their possession animals
of
the
female
sex
-
0
Sty
lites
!
they are now
in
heaven
!
How we clave together
!
How we strained caresses
!
How
the swooning limbs
sank fainting
on
the sward
!
For the fiery dart raged fiercer
;
in
excesses
Long restrained
,
it
cried
,
“
Behold
I
am the Lord
!”
2
Such
is
the
ultimate
end
of
platonic
love
.
That
it
has
many
noble forms
,
that
it
sprang
from
the
true abhorrence
of
the
vile
,
cannot
be
denied
;
that
1
Tannhäuser
,
vol
.
i,
p
.
237
.
2
The Temple
of
the Holy Ghost
,
vol
.
i,
p
.
173
.