8. Redefining Marriage in Interwar Britain: Internal Transformation and Personal Sacrifice in the Poetry of H.D.

their mutual penetration into the realms of supreme joy the two lovers bring back with them a spark of that light which we call life. unto them a child The mistake lies in supposing that “ the real thing ” , the longing for which has now become an obsession, is there to be found. It is not lying in wait for us on the far side of a surrender to enervated instinct and resentful flesh. It is not hidden, but lost.The only way to recover it is by building it up afresh, thanks to an effort that shall go against passion — that is to say, by some action, a putting in order, a purification, that will bring us back to the sober mean.