Chapter Eight
"Now the laborer's task is o'er;
Now the battle day is past;
Now upon the farther shore
Lands the voyager at last."
Now the battle day is past;
Now upon the farther shore
Lands the voyager at last."
The white unearthly voices of the choir boys, Mr. Strachey's bass booming softly like distant surf.
"There the tears of earth are dried;
There its hidden things are clear"
There its hidden things are clear"
And then words that wove together into a shimmering curtain before the Holy Mystery.
"O spare me a little, that I may recover my strength: before I go hence and be no more seen. . . .
"For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday . . . as soon as thou scatterest them they are even as a sleep. . . .
"There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. . . ."
"For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday . . . as soon as thou scatterest them they are even as a sleep. . . .
"There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. . . ."
Beautiful solemn words, what have you to do with Joe, who loved to laugh, who brought home surprises, who admired himself in Piccadilly collars with white-dotted blue bow ties, who was really greedy about Camembert cheese? Joe, who couldn't pay his bills, but would give away his last borrowed penny. Joe, who loved to boast and show off, who joked so that Lizzie
