In this crypt a leaden figure

stands rooted in the crystal water;

motionless in frozen rigour.

Summer tourists startled, shiver.

Stricken mute they stop and honour;

thoughtful souls become transfigured.

The vaulted roof contains our wonder;

whispered from the water’s border

we hear our thoughts as wordless thunder.

Was it king or priest or unknown sinner

whose secret reasons strove to author

encrypted secrets in this figure?

And is this statue slave or brother

carrying out our silent orders

deep within the vaulting pillars?

Or was it God that made this watcher

and set him in the cool groundwater?

Inside the crypt a leaden figure

stands guard for us in frozen rigour.

(1) https://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/our-heritage/art-architecture/antony-gormley-sculpture/