Of arcs below, uniting them
Each by a stalactitic stem.
—At once, with eyes that struck out sparks,
He adds accessory cusping-marks,
Then laughs aloud. The thing was done
So long assayed from sun to sun . . .
—Now in his joy he grew aware
Of one behind him standing there,
And, turning, saw the abbot, who
The weather’s whim was watching too.
Onward to Prime the abbot went,
Tacit upon the incident.
—Men now discerned as days revolved
The ogive riddle had been solved;
Templates were cut, fresh lines were chalked
Where lines had been defaced and balked,
And the work swelled and mounted higher,
Achievement distancing desire;
Here jambs with transoms fixed between,
Where never the like before had been—