The following are my thoughts on the writing of "the muse"...

The basic idea behind this deals with the artist having observed a prostitute standing in the light of a street lamp in the dead of night, between having returned from one liaison and awaiting the next. The fleeting image captures his imagination as he imagines her seeking a short respite from the night and what she has to face when she steps back into it. He imagines her hopelessness, as one who has given up on her dreams and the beauty or melody of true love.

The image inspires him to the point of painting what he saw. He paints the image in a more surreal manner, attempting through his art to make the mundane seem more beautiful, more poignant. Thus the streetlight becomes a metal tree, who's light is as a star, as it shelters her with its boughs. The heat of her shame, from her liaisons, cause the stars, which hand like fruit in the metal tree, to melt their light around her, also exposing her even more to those that would seek her. He sees her both as Pandora from Greek mythology - she who released evil into the world through her actions, and also as a repentant Eve in the biblical sense (see below for the relationship between Pandora and Eve that ties these images).

As he paints her, his mind and imagination is very much focused on every aspect of what he saw. After a period of deep introspection as he paints and attempts to capture the essence of what he perceived, he has an epiphany: Where he thought that he would lift this "sorry creature" from her downcast disposition and lift her onto a pedestal of beauty by painting this impressionistic piece (giving more meaning to her existence than her job alone), he realises that it is her, his muse, that has brought inspiration and meaning to his art - and in fact, to his outlook on life. She has indeed had a more profound impact on him than he could possibly ever have on her.

Some explanation of cross references:

The first stanza represents the reality of what he saw as opposed to his impressionistic representation of those same elements in the second stanza. The streetlight becomes a metal tree. The lamp becomes wax fruit that looks like stars hanging from the tree. The light it shines on her becomes more tangible, so that it drips and envelops her.
The "black and white pantomime" in line three of stanza one, is further qualified by the last two lines of that stanza. The words "black and white" are used because her dreams are lost, like the colours in the light of day are lost to the darkness of night. The word "pantomime" is used because the music of love is lost to her.
The word "sloughed" refers to the shedding of skin, mostly by animals - the first image that often comes to mind when thinking of shedding is a snake - this starts setting the platform for the imagery of her as Eve, tempted by the snake into sin. It also adds a more beastial context to her - someone descended into a more primal, base aspect of human nature. The romantic ideals of love have been shed.

With regards to the referencing between Pandora and Eve: In Greek mythology, Zeus asked Hephaestus, the blacksmith god, to make a beautiful woman out of clay and he named her Pandora, meaning “full of all gifts”. Zeus put in Pandora’s arms a sealed box and gave her to Epimetheus as a bride, a present from the gods. Epimetheus saw how beautiful she was and married her. Although she was told not to open the box, curiosity got the better of her and she opened it, releasing diseases, sorrows and disasters upon the world as a result. All she was able to keep hold of, was Hope. The story of how evil came into the world through a woman’s folly is reminiscent of the biblical story of Eve, where she was tempted by the serpent to eat an apple and thus brought death into the world.

The artist shapes her image in his painting, much like Pandora was shaped from clay into something beautiful. She gives her body to her lovers like Pandora was given to Epimetheus. She is partly responsible for releasing evil into the world - her acts of prostitution are seen by "decent" people as evil and in many cases this act can lead to sorrow, disaster and disease, both for her and her partners. Yet, somewhere deep down, she holds onto hope for something better - in her heart she hates what she does and wants to repent from it, but her reputation casts her out of polite society and makes it very difficult for her to lift herself out of this situation. In a way, she cannot return to the innocence of youth - the distant Garden of Eden.

In the last stanza, the artist is almost seen in the same light as one her partners as he "uses" her for his own needs, as his inspiration for his artwork. Once again building on the biblical imagery, his realisation of the truth is compared to the story of the apostle Paul who was cast blind by God until he realised the error of his ways and then the scales that covered his eyes, blinding him, fell away and he could see clearly. The words "enshrine" and "rite" further indicate his attempts at making her pure and holy through his art - to elevate her.