on and on i played until my soul was full of the warmth and the love around me , full of the light of the fire , and the light of so many faces , full with the sound of the strings of the lute , and the words becoming music , and then it seemed-right in the very middle of my boldest song , my sweetest , boldest most thumping and melodic song , i felt the air change , and the light brighten and i knew , i knew all these greasy shining faces that surrounded me were being transformed into something that was not corporeal at all , but rather notes of music , and it was a music of which i was only the barest part , and the music was rising higher and higher .