At Chartres
this state of collapse was
still present,
but some indulgent tenderness
presently enwrapped
and warmed the spirit.
The soul as it recovered was
no longer alone;
it was encouraged
and perceptibly helped
by the Virgin,
who revived it.
And this impression,
peculiar to this crypt,
permeated the body too;
it was no longer a feeling
of suffocating for lack of air;
on the contrary,
it was the oppression of inflation,
of over-fulness,
which would be mitigated
by degree,
allowing of easy breathing
at last.

J.K. Huysmans