a trick of the light
…ant schaweð ham forð as schadewe—for na lickre ne beoð ha to þe wunne of heouene ne to þe wa of helle þen is schadewe to þet þing þet hit is of schadewe. Ȝe beoð ouer this worldes sea upo þe brugge of heouene. Lokið þet ȝe ne beon nawt þe hors eschif iliche þe schuncheð for a schadewe, ant falleð adun i þe weater of þe hehe brugge. To childene ha beoð þe fleoð a peinture þe þuncheð ham grislier ant grureful to bihalden. Wa ant wunne i þis world, al nis bute peintunge, al nis bute schadewe.
…and represents them as a shadow – for they are no more like the joy of heaven or the pain of hell than a shadow is like that thing of which it is a shadow. You are above the sea of this world on the bridge of heaven. See that you are not like the skittish horse which shies at a shadow, and falls down into the water from the high bridge. Those who run away from a picture which seems to them frightening and horrible to look at are too childish. All the pain and joy in this world is nothing but a picture, nothing but a shadow.