THE VIRGIN
IOI
shall
be
pestered
on
our way by swarms of human
blow - flies, that we shall tread on the scorpions of re
ligion , the
toads of society ,
and
the
blind -worms of
the
law ;
that around
us will whirl
the
vampires of
the past , the
kites of the
present , the
succubi of the
future , is certain
enough ;
as
a shrieking
mass of
hideous
animosity
they
will
conglobe
around
us,
deafening us with
the expletives of earth , blinding
us
with
the
fumes
of hell , and
rendering
us insane with
the inanities of heaven
:
This were my guerdon
: to fade utterly
Into the rose -heart of that sanguine vase,
And lose my purpose in
its
silent sea
,
And lose
my life
,
and find
my life
,
and pass
Up
to
the sea that
is
as
molten
glass
.?
Nirvana
.
The drowning
of
self
in
eternity
.
Yet
if
the
mind
returned not from
its
abode
,
and
ever
rested
with God
,
all
would run smoothly
enough
;
but such
a
possibility
is
too transcendental
to
be
actual
.
If
it
were
,
hen this dull house
of
gold and iron and clay
Is
happy also
—
'
tis
an
easy way
!?
But this cannot
be
.
The dice are
in
God's lap
,
and
in
him alone rests
the Ultimate goal
.
In
“
Tannhäuser
'
we find the great dual power
of
redemption
,
the inter
minglings
of
the powers
of
Virtue and Vice
.
In
him
,
as
in
the hero
of
“
The
Nameless
Quest
,
"
they wage
an
eternal
contest
,
it
not
being
till
he
has
passed
through
the Venusberg
of
mental and physical lust
,
that
he
attains the graal
of
his hopes and aspirations
:
O
God
,
Thy blinding beauty
,
and the light
Shed from Thy shoulders
,
and the golden night
1
Tannhäuser
,
vol
.
i,
p
.
227
.
2
Ibid
.