98
THE
STAR
IN THE WEST
Then
from
the
centre
of
Eternity
came
a
voice ,
"
Tell thou the secret of the pillar .”
“ Eternal Beauty ,
One and absolute ! ” flashes
from his tongue .
Again
the voice asks , “
Thou knowest me for Beauty ! Canst
thou bear the fuller vision ? "
Then on my withered gaze that Beauty grew
Rosy quintessence
of alchemic dew !
The Self -informing
Beauty
! In my heart
The many
were
united
: and I knew.1
And yet :
I was wed
Unto the part and could not grasp the whole .
Thus , I was broken on the wheel
of Truth .
Fled
all
the hope and purpose
of
my youth
,
The high desire
,
the secret
joy
,
the sin
That coiled
its
rainbow dragon scales
within
.
Hope's being
,
life's delight
,
time's
eager tooth
;
All
,
all
are gone
;
the serpent
sloughs his skin
!
The quest
is
mine
!
Here ends mortality
In
contemplating the eternal Thee
.
Here
,
She
is
willing
.
Stands the Absolute
Reaching
its
arms toward me
.
I
am mute
,
I
draw toward
.
Oh
,
suddenly
I
see
The treason
-
pledge
,
the royal prostitute
.?
Thus does
he
fail
at
the very threshold
of
his higher
self
.
He
hears
echoing
“
Gereth
,
I
am thine
!”
And
falling
back
on
his purpose
,
the illusions
of
spirit and
mind
dissolve
to
the
desolate
cry
of
“
Unready
.
Haggard and worn
,
back
to
the
court
he
wends his
weary way
,
back
to
the King
,
back
to
his self's
de
sire
;
and there
,
taunted
by
the
husband
of
the mis
1
The Temple
of
the Holy Ghost
,
vol
.
i,
p
.
191
.
2
lbid
.