Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 51-69
Swift as a weaver's shuttle fleet our years:
Man goeth to the grave, and where is he?
Did I say basalt for my slab, sons? Black—
'Twas ever antique-black I meant! How else
Shall ye contrast my frieze to come beneath?
The bas-relief in bronze ye promised me.
Those Pans and Nymphs ye wot of, and perchance
Some tripod, thyrsus, with a vase or so,
The Saviour at his sermon on the mount,
Saint Praxed in a glory, and one Pan
Ready to twitch the Nymph's last garment off,
And Moses with the tables…but I know
Ye mark me not! What do they whisper thee,
Child of my bowels, Anselm? Ah, ye hope
To revel down my villas while I gasp
Bricked o'er with beggar's mouldy travertine
Which Gandolf from his tomb-top chuckles at!
Nay, boys, ye love me—all of jasper, then!
'Tis jasper ye stand pledged to, lest I grieve.
- The bishop busts out another simile to compare the speed of time passing to the speed of a weaver's shuttle on a loom. In other words: time sure flies when you're being a bishop.
- Say, did the bishop mention that he wants his tomb to be made from basalt? Um, yes, he did—back in line 25. Don't forget, though, that this dude is old and on his deathbed. He's going to be a little forgetful.
- That black rock is really going to make his own decorative frieze pop by contrast. Also, don't forget that he wants his bas-relief (like a shallow sculpture) to be made of bronze.
- The bishop continues with some other decorative demands.
- (Old-timey vocab note: "wot" in line 57 means "know.")
- He wants depictions of mythological figures like nymphs and pans, as well as a tripod (a symbol of the Greek god Apollo) and a thyrsus (a symbol of Dionysus).
- He also wants Jesus giving his famous sermon on the mount, and St. Praxed.
- While his sons are at it, he also wants a depiction of one of the Pan figures tearing the clothes off one of the nymphs, as well as Moses with the Ten Commandments ("tables"). Wait, what was that first thing? We're pretty sure the bishop is losing it here. Clearly he's got some pretty far-fetched ideas about what would be appropriate in decorating his tomb.
- Suddenly, he notices that these sons/nephews of his have stopped listening to his demands ("Ye mark me not!" (63)). We really can't blame them, given the whole "naked nymphs and Jesus" idea he's putting out there.
- The bishop warns them not to give him a second-rate tomb of "mouldy travertine" (knock-off granite), something that Gandolf might laugh at (66).
- Instead, they better make his tomb entirely out of jasper, a dark green rock that polishes up nicely.