The Star in the West

THE VIRGIN 97 On the Quest he goes , ever tormented by the cry of the inner self, ever striving to overcome it . Again the cursed cry : “ What quest is this ? Is it worth heaven in thy lover's kiss ? A queen , a queen , to kiss and never tire ! Thy queen , quick - breathing for your twin desire !" I shudder , for the mystery of bliss ; I go , heart crying and a soul on fire !? . . Still , I stepped onward . Credit me so far ! The harlot had my soul : my will , the star ! Thus I went onward , as a man goes blind , Into a torrent crowd of mine own kind ; Jostlers and hurried folk , and mad they are , A million actions and a single mind .? As he proceeds along his weary path , he feels a strengthening within him of the higher self , struggling against his desire , again and again every nerve in him cries , “ halt ” : at last he reaches the land of lost ideals : The plain is covered with a many dead . Glisten white bone and salt - encrusted head , Glazed eye imagined , a crystal built . And see ! dark patches , as of murder spilt . Ugh ! “ So my fellows of the quest are sped ! Thou shalt be with them : onward , if thou wilt !”3 He sees in the distance the pillar : Quaintly shaped and hued , It focussed all the sky and all the plain To its own ugliness and yet as he looked again he saw it in another form : A shapeless truth took image in my brain . o | The Temple of the Holy Ghost , vol . i, p . 188 . 2 Ibid . vol . i, p . 189 . 3 Ibid . vol . i, p . 190 . 4 Ibid . vol . i, p . 191 . H