Ante-chamber

“ The moon shines dim in the open air, And not a moonbeam enters here. But they without its light can see The chamber carved so curiously, Carved with figures strange and sweet, All made out of the carver’s brain, For a lady’s chamber meet: The lamp with twofold silver chain Is fastened to an angel’s feet. ”

“ Its roof is angular; that is to say, it is formed by the inclination of large masses of stone leaning toward each other, like the appearance presented by those masses which are above the entrance to the pyramid. Then quitting the passage altogether, we climbed the slippery and difficult ascent which leads to what is called the principal chamber. The workmanship, from its perfection, and its immense proportions, is truly astonishing. All about the spectator, as he proceeds, is full of majesty, and mystery, and wonder. ”

“ A furnace glowing in the big hearth threw fitful gleams into the recesses of the chamber, lighting up strange shapes of glass and earthenware, flasks and retorts, balances, hour-glasses, crucibles and astrolabes, a monstrous three-necked alembic of phosphorescent glass supported on a bain-marie, and other instruments of doubtful and unlawful aspect. ”

“ There was first a small chamber, which he called my father's study—in truth, it would have done for any philosopher or saint who wished to shut out the world—and might have passed for the interior of such a column as Stylites inhabited; for you must have climbed a ladder to have looked out of the window, and then the vision of no short-sighted man could have got over the interval in the wall made by the narrow casement, which, after all, gave no other prospect than a Cumberland sky, with an occasional rook in it. ”

“ I can perceive that we are in a narrow but also very lofty chamber, and that out of some mysterious blackness overhead ropes are dangling down into the circle of lantern-light illuminating the golden feet. ”

“ A chamber that is like a reverie; a chamber truly spiritual, where the stagnant atmosphere is lightly touched with rose and blue.
There the soul bathes itself in indolence made odorous with regret and desire. There is some sense of the twilight, of things tinged with blue and rose: a dream of delight during an eclipse. The shape of the furniture is elongated, low, languishing; one would think it endowed with the somnambulistic vitality of plants and minerals. ”

“ As I pace the darkened chamber, and lose myself in melancholy musings, the shadowy images around me almost seem to steal once more into existence—their countenances to assume the animation of life—their eyes to pursue me in every movement! ”

“ I went on again, and soon the recession of the wall on my left and the tread of my foot on the naked rock told me that I had arrived at the exit of the tunnel and was on the threshold of another chamber. I secured the bolsa and had recourse to the matches. The astounding scene which the light revealed paints itself in its every detail in my memory at this moment.
The chamber—floor, walls, and dome—was of white quartz, pure and sparkling: it was oval, about a hundred paces in length by thirty in width and of such regularity of form that art must have assisted nature. ”

“ Yet, here is the fact of the lighted chamber, the dressy, greedy company, the small, self-interested palaver, the disorganized, aimless, wandering mental action which it represents—the love of light and show and finery which, to one outside, under the serene light of the eternal stars, must seem a strange and shiny thing. ”

“ One feels either like a count, or very lonesome, to sit down in a lofty chamber, say thirty-five feet square, with little furniture, and historical and tragical life-size figures staring at one from the wall-paper. ”

“ Then we entered another crowded room which contained all kinds of models in gold and silver—castles, ships, and extraordinary machines. There were actual rivers flowing over model waterfalls, and an immense reservoir of water, enclosed by a circular wall of glass as high as my shoulders, in which there were hundreds of beautiful fishes, and on its surface numbers of model ships were moving in all directions.
Then we went into another great chamber. This, to my intense delight—oh, how shall I describe it?—was a magnificent library. All my life I have been passionately fond of books. ”

“ It is impossible not to enjoy the examination of such an exemplification of the dominion of mind over matter. Each day one chamber is emptied of its burnt and cooled-down bricks, and another chamber is filled with green goods. ”

“ But there is nothing upon the floor, nothing upon the table, nothing in the bay-window, nothing upon the sofa, nor in the huge carved chairs; there is nothing that proves the treachery she suspects. But her restless eye leads her springing foot from one corner of the chamber to the other. Speed increases with the lessening chance of proof; the eye flashes more and more fiercely ”

“ If thou desirest true contrition of heart, enter into thy secret chamber, and shut out the tumults of the world, "Commune with your own heart, and in your chamber, and be still." In thy chamber thou shalt find what abroad thou shalt too often lose. ”

“ Although still a young man, the present occupant of the chamber appeared middle-aged, so much had dissipation and excess done the work of time on his constitution. A jaded, wearied look, a sleepy, indolent expression of the eye, certain hard lines about the angles of the mouth, betokened one who played a high game with life, and rarely arose a winner. ”

“ They are circular or oblong chambers of stone, covered by great earthmounds, with a 'passage' of slabs connecting them with the outer air. All round the chamber the dead sit with head resting upon the bent knees, and consult together in silence. ”

“ It is a vast and lofty chamber, the floor covered with a mountainous heap of rocks rising amphitheatrically almost to the ceiling, and so disposed as to furnish at different elevations, galleries or platforms, reaching immediately around the chamber itself or leading off into some of its hidden recesses. ”

“ I hear the sentry call out, "Stand to your arms!"
They will be here in a minute.
SECOND SERVANT.
Why were we not told before that the audience
would be held here? Nothing prepared—no
orders—no instructions—
THIRD SERVANT.
Ay, and why was the balcony-chamber countermanded,
that with the great work'd carpet?—
There one can look about one.
FIRST SERVANT.
Nay, that you must ask the mathematician
there. He says it is an unlucky chamber.
SECOND SERVANT.
Poh! stuff and nonsense! that's what I call a
hum. A chamber is a chamber; what much can
the place signify in the affair? ”

“ Thus it was that, aloft there in the great gilded historic chamber and the presence of the pale personage on the wall, whose eyes all the while seemed engaged with her own, she found herself suddenly sunk in something quite intimate and humble and to which these grandeurs were strange enough witnesses. ”

“ Then when I somewhat recovered my eyesight, I see that the chamber was full of people of all ranks, who walked, stood, sat, reclined, and each man's feet were loaded with fetters, and his hands bound with chains ”

“ How exceeding bright looks the sunshine, casually reflected from a looking-glass into a gloomy region of the chamber, distinctly marking out the figures and colors of the paper hangings, which are scarcely seen elsewhere. ”

“ The observer finds himself at the entrance of a large oblong square chamber, low, but perfectly lighted by an aperture at the opposite end; and all around, above and below, the eye is bewildered by a profusion of ornaments and decorations of Nature's own devising. ”

“ I was feeling that we ought to be close to the surface when suddenly the passage debouched into a domed chamber, the only one we'd seen. And man!—I felt like dancing when I saw what looked like daylight through a crevice in the roof.
"There was a—a sort of machine in the chamber, just an enormous wheel that turned slowly, and one of the creatures was in the act of dumping his rubbish below it. The wheel ground it with a crunch—sand, stones, plants, all into powder that sifted away somewhere. ”

“ The first we step into we call the infant or thoughtless chamber, in which we remain as long as we do not think. We remain there a long while, and notwithstanding the doors of the second chamber remain wide open, showing a bright appearance, we care not to hasten to it, but are, at length, imperceptibly impelled by the awakening of the thinking principle within us. We no sooner get into the second chamber, which I shall call the chamber of maiden-thought, than we become intoxicated with the light and the atmosphere. ”

“ The diviner, having thoroughly cleansed his body, seats himself perfectly upright in a secluded chamber, and reverentially grasps the fifty divining rods, remembering always that they are sacred media through which the purposes of the all powerful are revealed by the aid of certain numerical mutations. ”

“ His conductor having struck a light with a flint and steel, our hero by the illumination of a single candle presently discovered himself to be in a bedchamber furnished with no small degree of comfort, and even elegance, and having every appearance of a bachelor's chamber. ”

“ No one is going to approach that chamber down-stairs as long as he thinks any one is watching, and we do not know where they are watching. But the moment any sudden great change is registered, such as turning on that electric furnace, we shall know it here. ”

“ Pushing their way within the circular recess, the lads saw that a rude stairway led up to some sort of chamber overhead. Mounting the rickety steps with care—for they had become loose and rotten—they found themselves in a small and not unpleasing little chamber, lighted by several long, narrow loopholes, and roofed in securely from the weather overhead. ”

“ SECTION XIV. We cannot, therefore, see the extremity, wherein lay the sting and force of the whole creature,—the chamber, namely, built by the Doge Gradenigo; but the reader must keep that commencement and the date of it carefully in his mind. ”

“ A grave-looking man, of a melancholy and severe aspect, and attired in a loose robe of black velvet, was seated alone in a chamber, the windows of which opened upon the Fountain Court, which we have just quitted. ”

“ We see by the agency of light, as all objects, except such as may be styled self-luminous, when placed in a dark chamber are not perceivable by us, except by touch, smell or hearing; we cannot see them; they are invisible. But when, by removing a shutter or igniting a flame, we introduce something to the chamber which was not present when the chamber was dark, we become at once conscious of the appearance of the object, we perceive it by the sense of sight. ”

“ Yet at no extraordinarily remote day this chamber has evidently been tenanted, and, before it was given up to darkness, was comfortably fitted, according to the standard of comfort which was known in college in the days of George II. There is still a roomy fireplace before which legs have been stretched and wine and gossip have circulated in the days of wigs and brocade. For the room is spacious and, when it was lighted by the window looking eastward over the fields and common, it must have been a cheerful place for a sociable don. ”

“ The first step to be taken upon arrival in the chamber of death, is to create a current of fresh air, by lowering the upper part of a window, or of a couple of them, if there be no transom light over the door. ”

“ Presently they emerged into another anteroom similar to the one adjoining their own apartment. A soft glow from a shaded lamp illuminated the chamber. Through a broad archway on the right floated the soft strains of some stringed instrument. Robert halted unconsciously. ”

“ The walls of this chamber were pink, the surface appearing as before of jewel-like lustre; the roof and floor of a green lighter than that of the emerald. In two corners were piles of innumerable cushions and pillows covered with a most delicate satin-like fabric, embroidered with gold, silver, and feathers, all soft as eider-down and of all shapes and sizes. There were three or four light tables, apparently of metal, silver, or azure, or golden in colour, in various parts of the chamber, with one or two of different form, more like small office-tables or desks. ”

“ You observe the chamber is lined with metal, which does something towards giving the thing its weight, and there are cunning little openings among the armour-joints in front which would transmit air and sound—even permit of a peep out. ”

“ I thought this an artifice not to be dispised; for we may in a chamber, if a man look in, see those things which were never there; and there is no man so witty that will think he is mistaken. Wherefore, to describe the matter, let there be a chamber whereinto no other light comes, unless by the door or window where the spectator looks in; let the whole window, or part of it, be of glass, as we used to do to keep out the cold, but let one part be polished, that there may be a looking-glass on both sides, whence the spectator must look in ”

“ Although it is pitch dark, it is perfectly ventilated through invisible openings to the upper air, the outlets of which have long been lost sight of, and we easily made our way from one circular chamber to another by the light of candles along the barrel-shaped passages, which are of convenient width and more than a man’s height, and I was delighted at finding such an opportunity for study at my own door, as it were. ”

“ But if the ‘man’ who occupies my Old Rooms is brought as safely to his journey’s end as I have now well nigh been brought to mine, my last half-minute alone in that ancient ‘upper chamber’ was not spent there in vain. ”

“ The rooms and vast halls, from the ample construction of the building, present an appearance quite startling to a stranger, who [181] may not be prepared for the unusual spectacle of a single chamber fitted up with five hundred vices along the sides, and all alive with the rush of wheels and the din of machines of every description, in action in the centre. ”