"All winter long whenever free to choose, Did I by night Frequent the College grove And tributary walks; the last and oft The only one who had been lingering there Through hours of silence, till the porter's bell, A punctual follower on the stroke of nine, Rang with its blunt unceremonious voice Inexorable summons. Lofty elms, Inviting shades of opportune recess, Bestowed composure on a neighbourhood Unpeaceful in itself. A single tree With sinuous trunk, boughs exquisitely wreathed, Grew there; an ash, which Winter for himself Decked out with pride, and with outlandish grace; Up from the ground and almost to the top The trunk and every mother-branch were green With clustering ivy, and the lightsome twigs The outer spray profusely tipped with seeds That hung in yellow tassels, while the air Stirred them, not voiceless. Often have I stood Foot-bound, uplooking at this lovely tree Beneath a frosty moon. The hemisphere Of magic fiction verse of mine perchance May never tread; but scarcely Spenser's self Could have more tranquil visions in his youth, Or could more bright appearances create Of human forms with superhuman powers Than I beheld, loitering on calm clear nights Alone, beneath the fairy-work of Earth." [Illustration: Bridge of Sighs S. John's College] The new chapel of S. John's, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott in a style of pointed architecture, repeating, with some added degree of richness, the same architect's design of Exeter College chapel at Oxford, was begun in 1863 and finished in 1869. The scheme involved the destruction of the old chapel and the still earlier building to the north of it. The hall was enlarged by adding to it the space formerly occupied by the Master's lodge, a new lodge being built to the north of the third court, and the Master's gallery being converted into the Fellows' combination room. The stalls from the old chapel were refixed in the new building, and some new stalls were added. The beautiful Early English piscina, three arches and some monuments were also removed from the old chapel. * * * * *