_
The Spirit and Chorus of the Years traject themselves, closely
followed by the Spirit and Chorus of the Pities, the Spirits
and Choruses Sinister and Ironic, Rumours, Spirit Messengers,
and the Recording Angel.
There is the sound of a rushing wind. The Solar System is seen
for a few instants growing larger and larger--a whorl of dark,
vastening orbs careering round the sun. All but one of these
is lost to sight. The convex seas and continents of our planet
spring into prominence.
The Spirit of Mr. Hardy is visible as a grey transparency
swiftly interpenetrating the brain of the Spirit of the Years,
and urging him in a particular direction, to a particular
point.
The Aerial Visitants now hover in mid-air on the outskirts of
Casterbridge, Wessex, immediately above the County Gaol.
SPIRIT OF THE YEARS.
_First let us watch the revelries within_
_This well-kept castle whose great walls connote_
_A home of the pre-eminently blest._
The roof of the gaol becomes transparent, and the whole
interior is revealed, like that of a beehive under glass.
Warders are marching mechanically round the corridors of
white stone, unlocking and clanging open the iron doors of
the cells.
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