They hardly might the postern gain.

'Tis said, as through the aisles they pass'd,

They heard strange noises on the blast;

And through the cloister-galleries small,

Which at mid-height thread the chancel wall,

Loud sobs, and laughter louder, ran,

And voices unlike the voices of man;

As if the fiends kept holiday,

Because these spells were brought to day.

I cannot tell how the truth may be;