Ode to Wells Cathedral

Stuart Gardiner - Speaking as an atheist, he has a point.

I’ve never seen wildebeest on the Serengeti

Never sipped coffee on a Venetian's jetty

Never been to Sark, which they say is very pretty

But I’ve been to Wells Cathedral

Never marvelled at the Taj Mahal

Never been to Vermont in the fall

Never glimpsed the Berlin Wall

But angels smile down from Wells Cathedral

At the Hermitage I never bowed the knee

Never sailed a boat upon a pearly sea

Never sought to visit the land of the fee

But I’ve smelled the sweet incense of Wells Cathedral

Never seen the eddies of the Niagara Falls

Never strolled the famous Vatican halls

Never heard the rare red parrot’s calls

But if there’s a god, he lives in Wells Cathedral

The scissor arches, the vivid purple of the cloth

The clock, the sacred theatre, the bubble and froth

The window that escaped the Roundhead wrath

They live in Wells Cathedral

Winchester, Canterbury, Lincoln, York

What if those gothic walls could talk?

Ancient tales from an ancient flock

Tales that seep from the pores of Wells Cathedral

Don’t rush through as tourists tend to do

Linger, your rewards will gradually accrue

Stay silent, take in the enchanted view

And you will find your god in Wells Cathedral

Today's Flickr photo with the most hits shows Wells Cathedral, as seen through a leaded window pane in the cloister.