He knelt down in the middle of the square and bowed to the earth, and kissed that filthy earth with bliss and rapture.
The act Sonia urged finally happens, and the verbs slow the scene to a sacrament. “Filthy earth” and “bliss” sit side by side, sanctifying the common ground. The bodily gesture answers the crime’s desecration with reverence. Stylistically, the lush diction risks excess—and earns it—because the moment is both public and inward. The kiss is not self-abasement; it’s alignment with reality. Many readers feel the relief of contact after so much isolation. Humility, here, tastes like air.