the iĄaculty oÍ' Graduate Ątudies April, L96[ - MSpace at the ...

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final jucigernent of God." Iir bold contraclistinction to
the veiled appearance of hu¡ran }ife stand- three more
figu-res: Hii, the rnighiy olÌe, t"iho is the final projectlon
of the irianderer; the jJea-cl One, in the form of
the ileørrnr: anci a Benedictine irtonk. The mood- oí the
narrative is set by the descrípLion of iongues of flarne
which lap at a bhousand years of bondage, ashes v¡hich
covet their. last glov,i of f ire, and f inally ice aird snow.
llE stands apart, raises the clod of ea.rtþ on rn¡hich the
ciõ1r resis, ancl drinks of the fl-arnes of the afflicied
sou,ls" The juxtaposition of space anci iinie, r,.,rhiclt i-s
central- to this preludLe, Serves both as a continuation
of the two previous prelucÌes, and as an implication of
the broad,e¡ scope of ihe firtal book' appropria'uely -r'he
title is ECgpieq.
As the por^rerful forrn of the l¡'landerer eniers the
vaulted cathedral and pene'traies the nystery of the
transcept, he lays hls ha-nd uÐon the colO forehead of
ihe llead Cne, a for"ehead still covered i.¡ith the scars
of thorns. '-L'he obvi ous analog¡' wi-th the crucif ied
ührist is in no \Na:l f'orced or contrived; it flov¡s
evenly th.roughout the symbolic raovernenL as though re-
flecting the image of true spirit v¡hich pervac'ì.es the
trilogy.'1"'he i'land-erer symbolically sul'ûmarizes the