The Star in the West

128 THE STAR IN THE WEST Sob , and the languid body slips Down to enamelled wildernesses . Fallen and loose the shaken tresses ; Fallen the sandal and girdling gold , Fallen the music manifold Of moving limbs and strange caresses , And deadly passion that possesses The magic ecstasy of these Mad maidens , tender as blue seas .' For this is passion , if not quite so pure as some we have already seen , yet still passion of an unlustful nature . In “ The Flight ” we find in the following lines a still deeper glow : The snow -bright weather Calls us beyond the grassy downs , to be Beside the sea , The slowly breathing Ocean of the south . Oh , make thy mouth A rosy flame like the most perfect star Whose kisses are So red and ripe ! Oh , let thy limbs entwine Like love with mine !? In the third act of “ The Argonauts ,” we find the love of Medea is no longer passion , but fiery entranc ing lust : At the midmost hour His mind given up to sleepless muttering Of charms not mine -- decries Olympian All on a sudden he felt fervid arms Flung round him , and a sweet hot body's rush Lithe to embrace him , and a cataract Of amber - scented hair hissing about His head , and in the darkness two great eyes Flaming above him , and the whole face filled With fire and shapen as kisses . And those arms | The Temple of the Holy Ghost , vol . i, p . 170 . 2 Mysteries : Lyrical and Dramatic , vol . i, p . 91 . ---