Versailles

picture of palace in 1675 before the Hall of Mirrors was constructed from wikipedia:

I quite like this image as with the muted colours it is evocative of an earlier time
of beauty and depicts an image with the fountains playing giving a magical quality
to the setting.

Poetry Page,

Versailles

Silken furbelows of fashion

Designed on gowns of colourful creation;

The flounces, the tresses,

the elegant dresses

And a world

beribboned in lace;

The wonders and splendours of this grace-

The stories of old

These fables of gold

Laced in the frame-work

of a Labyrinthe -

Cupid with a Ball of String

Dare the Nymphs and Angels sing,

The Tales which La Fontaine would bring

into the Splendour of the Day.

And so it was

On the Shifting Sands

That Le Notre with his Geometric Plans

designed a Landscape,

wondrous and new,

parterres and hornbeam

and trees of clipped yew:

of beauteous statues

bosques and elves

the groves, the fountains and elms

Rays of sunlight shimmered through

gleaming green and gold;

I see tranquillity in other places

Between high banks where the carp and bream do flow.

Across time, there are so many spaces and places

Though the wondrous glory of an age not forgotten

lingers still.

Time plays tricks

In old-fashioned garb

and costumes of old

A once forgotten time, enlightened,

And once more,

a Dream foretold.

Destiny unfolds,

We are in the mists of time.

The broderies and grass parterres of Grand Trianon

Memories of La Maintenon

The coloured marble and temples of old.

The theme of Versailles lingers on,

A palace glimmering in the sun,

The fascination, imagination,

For travellers,

so much an inspiration.

Wondrous gardens, terraces and flowers

So bright and bold,

In colours of purple and gold.

As also at Marly, where once

was told

Of the fairies who also spun their gold;

In its frame of magnificence

the rising and setting sun

dim ochered falls over the valley

in patterns of gold and light

and to the people would give delight

at such a wondrous sight;

which gave Apollo brilliance in its beam

As showers of water streamed

Casting rainbows and prisms of colour

In sprays of mist amongst magical fountains-

Versailles, and the king,

with songs, poems and quatrains

which would give a wondrous ring.

As the Seasons do change

A pale light glimmers

And the leaves doth fall from your trees

Dappled in green and gold.

The flickering rays dance in majestic greenery

The flower scented groves

Of statues and perfumed Orangerie.

And once in a dream

with children I've seen

The Lady of Maintenon.

The beauties of Heaven will find their trace

the banquets are over

the leaves do fall

Yet, ever and after,

Your Majesty stands tall.

I think and I dream of this wondrous abode

For here is my nemesis

and the story an ode

To find life's truth

and beauty in ode

Of a labyrinthe and

grottoes of old,

The stories to be told-

Of enchantment and places to behold-

Across a magnificence of splendour

Versailles calls out its name-

The jet streams of yesterday,

given from mists of watery fountains

in gardens of riotous splendour

come calling through-

In woods, the breezes

scented with jasmine and thyme

through rustling and whispering leaves

echoing through centuries of time-

the names are weaved;-

“Marie, Marie” I'm calling to thee-

The lady in a long white gown,

And even today,

remembered still, in

Old Versailles town.

And whispering still,

The loss of Louis's crown.

From far away places

the people of many faces

All come to see the show

A squire and a knight

once came into sight

of Versailles and its splendour and light

Said one t'other (squire to the knight)

Do you not know, did sayeth of the king-

“Versailles for courtiers,

Marly for family,

Trianon was for me!”

Why for? Why for?

Versailles is no more

With a king and glorious court?

No, not at all,

The people rebelled

A king tried too late,

and fell short.

O Versailles, Versailles,

what happened to thee-

Your old world came tumbling down,

The vestiges of a time once past,

cleverly raise from the ground

with sign posts all around

and now we visit you anew.

No more are the courtiers, king and queen,

but now it is as though,

we always have been

entranced by your wondrous dream.

A royal court no more

the glittering triumphs

the spectacles all unfold

The stories, the glories

of wonders to uphold.

And so through the ages

the splendour of sages

and a place in the sun.

Composed by Sandra