He took up her stiff head out of the leaves and held it or he reached to hold what cannot be held, what already ran among the mountains at once terrible and of a great beauty, like flowers that feed on flesh. What blood and bone are made of but can themselves not make on any altar nor by any wound of war. What we may well believe has power to cut and shape and hollow out the dark form of the world surely if wind can, if rain can. But which cannot be held never be held and is no flower but is swift and a huntress and the wind itself is in terror of it and the world cannot lose it.
The passage explores the profound and elusive nature of existence and beauty using rich imagery. The protagonist’s struggle to grasp something that is intangible signifies a deeper yearning for understanding the essence of life that is both mesmerizing and terrifying. The description of beauty intertwined with horror, like flowers that thrive on flesh, encapsulates the duality of nature, highlighting how it can inspire both awe and fear simultaneously.
Furthermore, the text conveys that some aspects of life, represented by the swift huntress, cannot be contained or controlled, mirroring the unstoppable forces of nature like wind and rain. This suggests a reflection on the limitations of human experience and the relentless, often chaotic, spirit of the world that cannot be subdued or fully captured, emphasizing a connectedness to the universe that remains forever out of reach.
