September 8

The Lord was ready to save me. Therefore we will sing my songs all the days of our life in the House of the Lord.

N O errant sunbeam reaches My carven walnut stall,

Only the scent of peaches Ripe on the cloister wall;

Only the voice of Tagus Deep in his bed below,

Gigantic arch-choragus, Holds pedal-point in Do.

Quem gladius pertransivit, The salcionals complain;

Redemptor meus vivit, The tuba cries amain;

But under all the singing And over, still I hear

That melody swinging, ringing, Subdued, divinely clear.

Ad Resurrectionem, Lord shield us with Thy strength;

Per augmentationem, The theme in double length;

Transcending, strict, unbending, It reigns supreme alone,

This melody never ending, Full canon four in one.

J. MEADE FALKNER

THE OPEN MIND