Sentence:  The hero , who is himself , is represented as a pilgrim in the storied lands of the East , a sort of Faustus type , who , to quote from Professor Bo ^ o ^ k again , `` even in the <WSD>pleasure</WSD> gardens of Sardanapalus can not cease from his painful search after the meaning of life . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience