"CHOPIN' IN THE DUSK. 217 



pipe, which seems to come from his knowing 

 that he is the sole bird performer of the hour, 

 the corncrake being only a marrowbone-and- 

 cleaver kind of artist. 



The Wimple narrows just here, and I must 

 be careful of the marginal alders. I follow the 

 path until I come to the broken wall of the 

 abbey. 



A big tree grows in the centre of the spot 

 where once the hooded monks knelt at matins, 

 at lauds, at vespers. An owl is moving above 

 the grass-grown aisle, but ceases as I step 

 through a gap in the broken wall, under the 

 grim shadow of the cedar. 



A statue of a Norman knight stands close 

 by. 



The wind seems to hide at the calmest and 

 stillest hours in thick recesses of ivy. You 

 will catch it rustling and shifting there when 

 no other leaf is stirring. 



