Versailles (a beauty)

Oh Versailles,

my memory stirs

The leaves flutter

and it all comes back to me:-

A summer breeze or a nightly feast,

the sound of distant music on the night breezes,

the wonder of the night.

The beauty gliding along your beautiful canal

on a windswept night;

these memories can never be erased:

Looking from a distance and seeing

your beautiful chateau lit up by night;

The beauty of the ponds and the lights

illuminated in the water;

The echo of laughter,

the lovely dresses and costumes

the masques, balls and delightful nights;

you who were never vain

but only always created beauty

in all of your imaginings;

the king,

of course;

the orange trees, fruit and flowers,

tulips of every day

breath-taking chestnuts

and hornbeam;

Oh, it was all exquisite

as in a dream;

now your days resound

to a different beat;

your history is never forgotten

your pleasures and beauty

give way to a new retreat;

the tourists delight

in every new treat:

music, a flower display

as people go on their way,

beautiful baroque

echoed all along in the day

as in a pantomime play;

the world created gave of its best

never for a day at rest;

there was always work to do

even though the people were few

and on and on this beautiful place was created

fountains and gardens were generated

As Angelique believed in Road to Versailles

she was close to Heaven on earth;

this from ever the day of her birth;

So beautiful, so wonderful,

a land of human endeavour

creating beauty

which lasts forever.

You, a prince of the line bourbon

shared a vision which goes on and on;

Did it come from Old Babylon?

The stories, the magic,

the gift goes on:

Louis, the king!

you created a stir,

Invited the nobles

and lives to bestir;

as beauty abounds

in all its surrounds;

hedges, greenery

enchanting scenery

and trees of fir;

the king was checked

the costs of the day

the amounts to pay

the king held sway

Colbert gave way:

Le Notre, Le Vau

who came from Vaux

with much to bestow

gave of themselves

a fine tableau;

with much to do

perspective and view

statues and yew,

menagerie, orangerie

and stable;

Versailles is your magic

with flowers bedecked

an enchanting effect

of rose, bay leaf

and maple;

As a Tower of Babel

on terrain sable

embellished by

a Fontaine fable;

and

topiary relief,

to enhance

by chance

as writ on a script

in ancient Sanskrit

or from Old Egypt:

a verdant

flowering

sand table;

glanced off the stage

peppered by age

did you not know?

This was the show:

Curtain came down

At the sun-down

and turn of a page;

come to this place

and never forget

the wonder and pageant

which the place would beget;

Now it is the end of the story,

don't forget the beauty-

chapel created in glory

songs of wonder

never cease;

beautiful Marly, the Tuileries

Louvre,

all of these places in the heart

ever from,

it was from the start;

Louis never took from the story,

he only added his theme.

And now with a different generation of folk

living their lives under a different yoke

who seek out the renewing green oak

travel a long and endurance path

this we know

as we go along

the time has come to sing a new song

the times of beauty and wonder

we admire from the past

as our spirits tread in a spirit of lightness

and now hope for a brightness

not ever dimm'd

but to last over yonder

and forever held fast

seeking beauty

wherever it may be

this we hope to always see.