The Star in the West

THE MOTHER 129 And kisses and mad movements of quick love Burnt up his being , and his life was lost In woman's love at last ! 1 This was the love , or rather lust , of “ that filthy sorceress . We are now rapidly approaching the realms of the abnormal ; for good and evil are the toys of love as well as those of fate . The nymph and the satyr , the fair and the faulty alike are the guests of these amorous shades.2 The virility of lust is vividly illustrated in “ The Blood -Lotus " : Foam whips their reeking lips , and still the flower -witch nestles to my lips , Twines her swart lissome legs and hips , half serpent and half devil , till My whole self seems to lie in her ; her kisses draw my breath ; my face Loses its lustre in the grace of her quick bosom ; sinister The raving spectres reel ; I see beyond my Circe's eyes no shape Save vague cloud - measures that escape the dance's whirling witchery . Clothed with my flower - bride I sit , a harlot in a harlot's dress , And laugh with careless wickedness . And with our laughter's nails refix his torn flesh faster to the wood , And with more cruel zest make good the shackles of the Crucifix .3 | The Argonauts , vol . ii, p . 100 . 2 Mysteries : Lyrical and Dramatic , vol . i, p . 90 . 3 Oracles , vol . ii, p . 14 . K