The Song of the Minster 19

He trembled with awe and astonishment,
but the wonder of what was happening drew
him towards the altar. The beautiful taber-
nacle work of the altar screen contained a
double range of niches filled with the statues
of saints and kings; and these, he saw, were
singing. He passed slowly onward with his
arms outstretched, like a blind man who
does not know the way he is treading.

The figures on the painted glass of the
lancets were singing.

“The winged heads of the baby angels over
the marble memorial slabs were singing.

The lions and griffons and mythical beasts
of the finials were singing.

The effigies of dead abbots and priors
were singing on their tombs in bay and
chantry.

The figures in the frescoes on the walls
were singing.

On the painted ceiling westward of the
tower the verses of the Te Deum, inscribed
in letters of gold above the shields of kings
and princes and barons, were visible in the
divine light, and the very words of these
verses were singing, like living things.

And the breath of all these as they sang