88
THE STAR IN THE WEST
Trampled around her by the souls
that knelt ,
Worshipping
where her false lewd body dwelt ,
Was dark and hateful ; and a sleepy
flood
Trickled
therefrom as magic gums that
melt . '
I am a man , nor fear to drain the bowl.2
Now some old devil, dead
no doubt
and damned ,
But living in her life , had wisely crammed
Her fierce bronze throat with such
a foul
device
As made
her belly yearn for sacrifice .
She leered
like love on me , and
smiled , and
shammed
,
And did not pity for
all
her breast
of
spice.3
Man though
he
was
,
he
is
thrust into her Moloch
arms
.
When
lo
!
a
miracle
!
he
is
plucked
by
his own
fearlessness from the horrid maw
,
“
Free
,
where the
blood
of
other men
is
wet
,”
mingling
in
life
till
“
ten
thousand
little
loves were brought
to
birth
”;
then
came
the
one
woman
who
looked
so
deeply
in
his
eyes till hers grew
,
shielding
the
sun
,
as
a
purple
ring
:
Then
in
the uttermost profound
I
saw
The veil
of
Love's unalterable law
Lifted
,
and
in
the shadow far behind
Dim and divine
,
within the shadow blind
My own love's face most amorously draw
Out
of
the deep toward my cloudy mind
.
O
suddenly
I
felt
a
kiss enclose
My whole live body
,
as
a
rich red rose
Folding
its
sweetness
round
the honey
-
bee
!
I
felt
a
perfect soul embracing me
,
And
in
my spirit like
a
river flows
A
passion like the passion
of
the sea
.*
So
ends
the first part
of
this mystical and symbolic
poem
.
In
the
second
part the Queen speaks
,
her love
1
Mysteries
:
Lyrical and Dramatic
,
vol
.
i,
p
.
99
.
3
Ibid
.
4
Ibid
.
2
Ibid
.
vol
.
i,
p
.
100
.