The Monastery Chapter 32

In which Edward Glendinning, torn betwixt hope and despair, reveals to the Sub-Prior the strange and troubling emotions that have led him to resolve upon the religious life; and there ensues a grave discourse on faith, superstition, and the heart’s passionate yearnings, whilst Edward signifies his desire to depart from the world’s turmoil and enter the cloister’s calm. Their parting is touched by a mysterious apparition’s song, bidding Edward to forsake the green and don the gray, as the Sub-Prior impresses upon him the solemn duties and consolations of a life consecrated to Heaven.