The Star in the West

268 THE STAR IN THE WEST Which compares with : Till like the smoke of mountains risen at dawn , The cloud-veils of the Ain are withdrawn . Pure spirits rise to heaven , the bride . Pure bodies are as lamps below. The shining essence , glorified With fire more cold than fresh - fallen snow, And influences , white and wide , Descend , re -gather , kindle , grow , Till from one virgin bosom flows a river Of white devotion adamant for ever . ' We might expect to find this idea in “ Tannhäuser,” and do in the following verse : This were my guerdon : to fade utterly Into the rose heart of that sanguine vase , And lose my purpose in its silent sea , And lose my life , and find my life , and pass Up to the sea that is as molten glass .” One more quotation we will give from the song of Parthenope in “ The Argonauts ." O mortal , sad is love ! But my dominion Extends beyond love's ultimate abode . Eternity itself is but a minion , Lighting my way on the untravelled road . Gods shelter ' neath one shadow of my pinion . Thou only tread the path none else hath trode ! Come , lover , in my breast all blooms above , Here is thy love !3 The true Buddhist scorns the selfishness of heaven , the idea of hell is utterly repugnant to him , to feel that he is gaining eternal bliss whilst others are sink ing into everlasting torment , burns into his heart and 1 Jephthah , vol . i, pp . 83 , 84 . 2 Tannhäuser , vol . i, p . 227 . 3 The Argonauts , vol . ii, p . 108 .