24
THE STAR IN THE WEST
And then –O sudden
ardour !-all her mind
And memory
faded , and looked outward , blind,
Beyond their bitterness.
Her arms she flung
Around him , and with amorous lips and tongue
Tortured
his palate
with extreme
desire ,
And like a Mænad maddened
; equal
fire
Leapt in
his
veins
;
locked close for love
they
lie
,
The heart's dumb word exprest without
a
sigh
In
the strong magic
of
a
lover's kiss
.'
These superb lines
,
like those
of
Swinburne
,
are
in
reality
a
series
of
brilliant
lyrical illustrations
depict
ing
the story
in
measures
of
divine song
.
More
we
find
in
this same
poem
,
and
in
others also
;
the follow
ing fine sonnet entitled
“
The Summit
of
the Amorous
Mountain
,"
is
distinctly
Swinburnian
;
I
give
it
in
its entirety
:
To
love you
,
Love
,
is
all
my
happiness
;
To kill you with my kisses
;
to
devour
Your whole ripe beauty
in
the perfect
hour
That mingles
us
in
one supreme
caress
;
To drink the purple
of
your thighs
;
to
press
Your beating bosom
like
a
living flower
;
To die
in
your embraces
,
in
the shower
That dews like death your swooning loveliness
.
To know you love
me
;
that your body leaps
With the quick passion
of
your soul
;
to
know
Your fragrant kisses sting my spirit
so
;
To
be
one soul
where
Satan smiles
and
sleeps
;
Ah
!
in
the very triumph
-
hour
of
Hell
Satan himself remembers
whence
he fell
!
?
Again
,
such lines
as
these
from
the
“
Triumph
of
Man
"
:
And
all
the earth
is
blasted
;
the green sward
Burns where
it
touches
,
and
the barren sod
1
The Tale
of
Archais
,
vol
.
I,
p
.
11
.
?
The Temple
of
the Holy Ghost
,
vol
.
i,
p
.
181
.