The Star in the West

134 THE STAR IN THE WEST Once again we see her , Ratoum , Queen of Egypt , before the coffin which is supposed to contain the child of her incest , but which holds in reality her leprous and long -forgotten husband . She is maddened with lust and religious frenzy , and stands entranced till the leper rises as from the dead , and S’afi, the child of her whoredom , tears off his mask and shrieks : I am the hideous poison of thy veins And foulest fruit of thy incestuous womb .? 2 “ I am thy mother,” is her answer ; so , even in her frenzied madness , the greatest force in nature asserts itself. He stabs her , and stabs himself ! such also is filial love . In “ The Mother's Tragedy ” the characters are practically reversed . Ulric , who ravishes Cora , his mother , even sinks deeper in the mire of lust than Ratoum . It is a curious case of love baulked turning to the foulest lust . He is passionately in love with her , lustfully in love ; all the exuberance of his youth runs fire in his veins ; he sees in the object of his adoration - as Percy saw in Angela — the only waters that would quench his flaming desire . He knows not Cora to be his mother ; Cora Vavasour of the halls , and himself her bastard son . My wife ! O Cora , I have loved you so ! My heart is like a fountain of the sea . I burn , I tremble ; in my veins there swims A torrid ecstasy of madness . Ah ! Ah , God ! I kiss you , kiss you ! O you faint ! Sweetheart , my passion overwhelms your soul ! 1 The Fatal Force , vol . i, p . 150 . 2 Compare story of Semiramis and Ninyas .