The Star in the West

62 THE STAR IN THE WEST And he with open lips voluptuous Closed her sweet mouth with kisses, and so pressed Her sobbing bosom with a manlier breast That .. She submits , not to the god , but to the man . Within the god , the godhood vanishes ; for the power of love rules all , and the god once again becomes in carnated in the form of a divine man .” So the morning past And found them linked inexorably fast Each in the other's arms . Their lips are wed To drink the breezes from the fountain - head Of vers ' breath .3 Then all her senses leap to the melodious song of Zeus , a divine lyric ; the following are two of its seven beautiful verses : O lamp of love ! The hissing spray shall jet thee with desire And foaming fire , And fire from thee shall move Her spirit to devour , And fuse and mingle us in one transcendent hour . Godhead is less Than mortal love , the garland of the spheres , Than those sweet tears That yield no bitterness To the luxurious cries That love shrills out in death , that murmur when love dies .4 The hour of noon approaches , it falls , and the curse resumes its sway ; a fiery snake winds its coils round the sleeping god , and hisses in his ear , “ awake ! ” 1 The Tale of Archais , vol . i, p . 22 . 2 Eros ( w .) descending upon God ( 778,7 .), transforms God into ( 171017. ) Christ . 3 The Tale of Archais , vol . i, p . 22 . + Ibid . vol .i, p . 23 .