God said, “Because the earth was sodden.”
He called me to come further.
And at last we came upon a hill where blue waters played, and white
marble lay upon the earth. I said to God, “What was here once?”
God said, “A pleasure house.”
I looked, and at my feet great pillars lay. I cried aloud for joy to
God, “The marble blossoms!”
God said, “Ay, ‘twas a fairy house. There has not been one like to it,
nor ever shall be. The pillars and the porticoes blossomed; and the
wine cups were as gathered flowers: on this side all the curtain was
broidered with fair designs, the stitching was of gold.”