Monday, December 6, 2010

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



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