midnight
From the grosser sorts of temptation he was always saved by the fastidiousness of his temperament ; the thought of a woman who sold herself for money could never bring him anything but shuddering . But all about his lodging-house lived the daughters of the poor , and these were a snare for his feet . It seemed to him as if this craving came to a man in regular pulses ; he could go for weeks , serene and happy in his work -- and then suddenly would come the restlessness , and he would go out into the night and wander about the streets for hours , impelled by a futile yearning for he knew not what -- the hope of something clean in the midst of uncleanliness , of some adventure that would be not quite shameful to a poet 's fancy . And then , after midnight , he would steal home , baffled and sick at heart , and wet his pillow with hot and bitter tears ! So unbearable to him was the thought of such perils that he was impelled to seek his old friend the clergyman , who had lost him over the ancient Hebrew mythologies , and now won him back by his living moral force . With much embarrassment and stammering Thyrsis managed to give a hint of what troubled him ; and the man , whose life was made wholly of love for others , opened his great heart and took Thyrsis in . He told him of his own youthful struggle -- a struggle which had resulted in victory , for he had never known a woman .