78
THE STAR IN THE WEST
True Love ,
let
us
now enter those enchanting realms
of
Free Love
,
which
is
True
Love
in
its
truest
form
.
Nina
is
our guide
,
pointing
us
out
the hill
-
top road
which will lead
us
above
the
social
plain
,
and awed
by the mystic love
of
woman
,
Racing and maddening from the crown
of
flame
,
The monolithic core
of
mystical
Red fury that
is
called
a
woman's heart
.'
Enter the sphere
of
Free Love
,
and
sit
by
the
side
of
Alice
,
look
into
the
depth
of
her eyes
,
the depths
of
her heart
.
As
a
seeker sees the gold
In
the shadow of the stream
;
see there
her love
,
As
a
diver sees the pearl
In
the shadow of the sea
;
and murmur not above
our breath
Ah
!
you can love
,
true girl
,
And
is
your love for me
??
“
Alice
,
an
Adultery
.”
As
golden
a
book
of
poetry
as
Mademoiselle
de
Maupin
is
of
prose
.
The first poem
in
the book
is
called
“
Messaline
."
3
It
is
in
a
way
a
foreword
to
the
ensuing
sonnet
-
se
quence
,
and
yet
in
a
way
it
is
not
,
its
spirit
being
more
essentially
of
Lust
;
for whatever
the
“
unco
gude
”
may say
,
that
of
Alice
and her
lover
is
not
.
To adulterate
is
to
debase
;
but there
is
no
debase
ment
here
.
Love
burns pure
as
a
flame
,
and
if
it
is
,
as
it
is
here
,
between
a
married woman and
a
lover
|
Tannhäuser
,
vol
.
i,
p
.
232
.
2
The Three Shadows
,
Rossetti
.
3
In
the second edition
,
the first edition began with White
Poppy
.