56
THE STAR
IN THE WEST
Who could withstand the sweet witchery of such a
lover's wooing ? least
of
all
Archais
;
her breast
,
re
luctant yet helpless
,
heaves with
a
soft passion
,
no
wise
understood
,
her pulse quickens
,
she speaks
,
he
is
en
thralled
:
the piercing flame
Of love struck through
him
,
till
his tortured
mind
Drove his young limbs
,
the wolf that hunts the hind
,
Far through
the forest
.
1
And
then again bursts
from his lips the
enraptured
song
:
Ere the grape
of
joy
is
golden
With the summer
and the sun
,
Ere the maidens
unbeholden
Gather one by one
,
To the vineyard
comes the shower
,
No sweet rain
to
fresh
the flower
,
But the thunder
rain that cleaves
,
Rends
and ruins
tender
leaves
.
Ere the crimson
lips have planted
Paler roses
,
warmer grapes
,
Ere the maiden
breasts
have panted
,
And the sunny shapes
Flit around
to
bless the hour
,
Comes
men know not what
false flower
:
Ere the cup
is
drained
,
the wine
Grows unsweet
,
that was
divine
.
These last two lines contain the whole secret
of
this
story
.
The beauty
of
the clinging
love
of
childhood
is
tinged with
a
glowing
desire
,
the pink desire
of
the
bud bursts into the passionate
crimson
of
the rose
,
and
1
The Tale
of
Archais
,
vol
.
i,
p
.
9.
2
Ibid
.
vol
.i,
pp
.
9,
10
.