The
January Challenge (you can see it in more detail in the archive section of this
blog) was a poem about an iconic structure. The judges determined that no poem
submitted by the deadline was a winner, so the challenge was left open for
several months. Several weeks ago, I sent Jim Lambert, one of the original
judges, the additional poems that have been submitted and Richard C. Green was
declared the winner.
Richard had commented in
his email, “Here is my
poem based on the iconic churches of St. Denis and Chartres, a suggestion of
the inspiration for Gothic architecture, with its opening up of space and
light, replacing Romanesque.” Here is his poem:
The Abbot
in Autumn
Abbot Suger surely stood
Beneath an aisle of ancient trees
And marveled at its height,
Its rise and great limbs arching
Upward to a light-filled vault.
Green, yellow, red, orange,
Bright blue between,
Traceried with twigs
Dissolving in the
Mystical light.
Let us have
No more tunnels,
Catacombs shutting
Out the sky, stone dark.
Sursum Corda!
Let in the forest lights
Above naves of trunks,
Groves of trunks in piers,
Slender trunks in colonettes
Lifting leafy capitals, ribs, liernes
Into that vibrant spectrum
Above.
~ Richard C.
Green
The Basilica of St. Denis near Paris
is named for the man legend says was the first bishop of Paris. The site
occupied by the church was originally selected for the tomb of Bishop Denis. It
was a simple structure, nothing like the large basilica found at that location
today.
Sometime before 637, a Benedictine Monastery
was built there. Dagobert I, King of the Franks from 628-637, built an Abbey on
the site. Suger, mentioned in the poem, was Abbot in the 1200s. He is
responsible for the construction of the Gothic structure celebrated in the
poem. St. Denis was the burial place of numerous French kings and queens. It
became a pilgrimage site in the 5th century. You can read more of
the history of the Basilica of St. Denis and see photos of it at http://www.sacred-destinations.com/france/paris-st-denis,
http://goparis.about.com/b/2014/05/05/paris-notes-why-do-tourists-neglect-st-denis-basilica.htm,
and other places on the Internet. For information on Chartres Cathedral, see http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/81.
Richard C. Green taught art and art
history and is now painting and writing poetry. He maintains copyright on his
poem.
©
Wilda Morris
