. . but I know               60

Ye mark me not! What do they whisper thee, 

Child of my bowels, Anselm? Ah, ye hope 

To revel down my villas while I gasp 

Bricked o’er with beggar’s mouldy travertine 

Which Gandolf from his tomb-top chuckles at!        65

Nay, boys, ye love me—all of jasper, then! 

‘Tis jasper ye stand pledged to, lest I grieve. 

My bath must needs be left behind, alas! 

One block, pure green as a pistachio-nut, 

There’s plenty jasper somewhere in the world—     70

And have I not Saint Praxed’s ear to pray 

Horses for ye, and brown Greek manuscripts, 

And mistresses with great smooth marbly limbs? 

This passage has three elements: (1) suspicion, (2) demand, (3) promise.

The suspicion comes in response to the sons speaking among themselves:

                                    but I know                  60

Ye mark me not! What do they whisper thee, 

Child of my bowels, Anselm?

The whispering was apparently timed to follow after the mention of change stone in the lines immediately preceding:

Did I say basalt for my slab, sons? Black— 

‘Twas ever antique-black I meant! How else 

Shall ye contrast my frieze to come beneath? 

The Bishop supposes they were thinking of how they could build the tomb with less expensive materials:

                                                Ah, ye hope 

To revel down my villas while I gasp 

Bricked o’er with beggar’s mouldy travertine 

Travertine is less expensive stone. This will cause him to lose status with his arch-rival:

Which Gandolf from his tomb-top chuckles at! 

Again, the absurdity seems lost on him. Gandolf will never know, because Gandolf was dead. This may give us reason to ask why do the living lavish such expense upon the dead? It is action of love of the living for the dead; a picture of memory and loss.

The poem is then reversing that movement. Rather than the living wishing to honor the dead; the soon-to-be dead demands such reverence. He suspects the children will not want to give him such honor.

A second reversal is that the dying wants to have one last stab at the dead, with the hope that the dead will know he was defeated.

Since he suspects that they will build his tomb with something inexpensive, he makes a demand of them lest he grieve (which would the response of the living, not the dead):

Nay, boys, ye love me—all of jasper, then! 

‘Tis jasper ye stand pledged to, lest I grieve. 

My bath must needs be left behind, alas! 

One block, pure green as a pistachio-nut, 

There’s plenty jasper somewhere in the world—    

“Jasper is an opaque variety of Chalcedony, and is usually associated with brown, yellow, or reddish colors, but may be used to describe other opaque colors of Chalcedony such as dark or mottled green, orange, and black. Jasper is almost always multicolored, with unique color patterns and habits.” https://www.minerals.net/gemstone/jasper_gemstone.aspx

The last thing is remarkable. He demands something which may not exist. It is only a supposition:

One block, pure green as a pistachio-nut, 

There’s plenty jasper somewhere in the world—    

This demand comes bound to a promise. At this point, the Bishop’s incongruity becomes grotesque. He says that in his state of death he will pray to the Saint of the church, who then supply the sons with extravagance:

And have I not Saint Praxed’s ear to pray 

Horses for ye, and brown Greek manuscripts, 

And mistresses with great smooth marbly limbs? 

This makes for one of the strangest movements in a poem filled with paradox. He claims a privileged position with the Saint to whom the church is dedicated (a Christian martyr) and from this position he will get the Saint to deliver to the sons horses, expenses books, and “mistresses” (like their mother).

The description of the mistress is interesting: “great smooth marbly limbs”. The mistress is like a statute made of marble – like the Bishop’s tomb. This ties their life to his death.