Colours and Imaginings

A poem for Poetry in Paradise which occurs every month at the Library:

Colours and Imaginings:

The afternoon sunlight

seems so right

if only it would stay

Not turn into night:

the quiet,tranquillity

Bird song and serenity,

it gives hope to my heart

and all the beginnings of a new start:

Pink shadows and grey

A darkening ray-

But a-far and be-yond

By a magical wand

the Sun dips its beam

into the Great Unseen:

Autumn leaves,

They flutter and fall

sweep up my dreams

and gather them all:

Ruby, russett, orange and red

Colours of imagination

wherein I am led.

A beautiful valley

Of Summer Green

the clover, flower,

and grass:

A spectacular scene

And greet in the distance

sweet summer's haze;

beyond the township

dips the soft sun

The light in the meadows

a glimmering one;

A perfumed landscape

As nightfall approaches

this I see

In all my reproaches

A shimmering stream

ultra-green

The beauties of Nature

give a powerful beam:

the contours,

the colours

they glance into Space

Now it is a canopy,

A starlit, wondrous Place;

Oh, this lovely Night-scape!

By candle-light beauty

echoes the Grace

with each little star

flung out into space

And the seasons,

an ever encircling ring

As May flowers bloom in spring;

The soft greens by the River Seine

they seemed to beckon and call my name

but out on the fields is a different scene

Crimson and yellow and bright blue and green;

The echoing distance

the ringing of bells

A picture-page story-book

which often tells

of adventures and romance

the kind which sells:

In distant played memories

My mind perceives

The beauty of this world

which never deceives;

Who knows where it all began?

The stories of life

which travelled on the winds,

in the currents of streams

whispered in leaves

and reached different shores

North, south, east or west

in the Great Plan:

As oft in my day-dreams

the colours return

Soft greens of a vineyard,

Do colours play tricks?

In my mind,

backwards and forwards

Colours behold!

Beauty magnified

in colours re-run

At the setting of a Sun;

Crimson starlight, pink and blue

Purple, orange, every hue;

Colours of the World,

I say

A beauty of Art

Peace of the World

I pray

And a new start

Peace in my Heart:

the colours and imaginings

Grace plays its part;

Soft glimmering hopes

my last wishing stance

the wonders of Nature

give a Second Chance

for peace, harmony,

beauty tranquillity.

Places in France

Sainte-Chapelle, Paris:

A wonderful place to visit.

  Beautiful stained glass windows, a statue of Louis IX, Saint Louis, by the altar and wonderful carved doors leading to a balcony upstairs with depictions of scenes from the Old Testament.  Adam and Eve, Noah and the Ark.  This chapel is well worth visiting and quite beautiful.
Built in the 13th century and as a place for the religious relics of a true
piece of the Holy Cross and other religious items.

 

Staue of Louis IX

Wonderful stained glass: so beautiful, lovely colours and light.

Carving on door: the building of Noah's Ark:

The Sainte-Chapelle in on the Ile de la Cite, next to the Conciergierie. It is lovely

to wander around this area of Paris with the flower markets and the wonderful views of

the River Seine and the famous land-marks of the city.

Beautiful river Seine, Paris



Places of enduring beauty

Places of enduring beauty

Venice, St Mark's Square and the little canals, bridges, gondolas and ambience

of a beautiful city. The shining water and reflections, the magnificence of the

art and architecture and beautiful old churches and Doges Palace. A place I wish

to return to for its wonderful atmosphere and beauty. A trip to the colourful villages

of Murano and Burano where the glassblowers do their craft so well would also be nice

to revisit. It is awhile since I visited this beautiful and inspiring city.

St Sergiyev Monastery, Posad, Russia

Wonderful architecture of the trinity cathedral and bell tower.

Splendid! Memorising and so beautiful! Wonderful colours of blue and

white and magnificent domes in a peaceful and rural setting. I loved visiting this

place which is not far distant from Moscow.

River Seine, Paris

So beautiful and enchanting, by daylight and the setting sun.

A wonderful place to stroll along the banks of this mesmerising river

which winds its way through the city of Paris.

The Isle de la Cite is wonderful with the flower markets, the scents and

colours.

Beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral by the river setting is beautiful.

I love Paris.

The beautiful gardens of Versailles:

Not far from the Paris, the magnificence of the baroque era of the seventeenth

century is on show. The chateau of Louis XIV, the Hall of Mirrors, art works

and sculpture and magnificent salons. The views of the gardens are spectacular

in all of their wonder and glory.
 

Beautiful flowers, colours and fountains give a sense of wonder and beauty.

Geometrical patterns of the flower beds, the hornbeam, the hedges and groves

with pretty fountains and rock pools give an air of serenity, peace and tranquillity.

The baroque music of the era complements the fountain displays and gives a sense

of the seventeenth century during the time of Louis XIV in all of its splendour.

Tuileries Gardens, Paris

Beautiful in the spring time and summer with the magnificent varieties of colours

and flowers. The gardens are beautiful and peaceful.

Statues and fountains add charm and beauty.

Luxembourg Gardens, Paris

 

Wonderful in the autumn with the varying colours of the leaves. I often used to enjoy

wandering around the Luxembourg Gardens where I could sometimes purchase a waffle.

Paris is a magnificent place to be in autumn with the many tree lined boulevards

which make the city so attractive and the temperatures begin to cool with lovely

breezes along the banks of the River Seine.

More to follow at a later date.

The Land of Colour

Picture of Orangerie at gardens of Versailles from wikipedia:

Louis XIV was a king who loved the outdoors and the land.

He created beauty with his landscape designer, Le Notre, over the

years at the gardens at Versailles with their magnificent designs,

fountains, parterres and flower displays.

He was also inclined to sometimes work in his gardens when time

permitted and befriend his gardeners and workers. The Marquis of

Dangeau often reported on the activites of the king and would make

note of these occasions, e.g. one year at Christmas the king set about

planting in his gardens and pruning his Indian Chestnut trees at the Trianon

in the New Year and working industriously for most of the

day. These are rare glimpses of the king which have been recorded

in the book “The Sun King's Garden” by Ian Thompson. (A wonderful

and favourite book for the magnificent pictures and illustrated colour plates.)

The Hall of Mirrors at Versailles was built to face west and capture the beauty of

the setting sun and the magnificent colours which would have been

reflected over the landscape:

The magnificent 17^th century is called “Le Grand Siecle”

described as “The Splendid Century” in the title of the book by W H Lewis,

who was a brother of C E Lewis, author of the Chronicles of Narnia:

The Land of Colour

The land of colour

A man of the earth

• a mystery be:

As the king was wont to be;-

I want to dance with the fishes in a golden sea

Sing with the angels in the land of the free

Visit Giverny in the Spring,

The colours, paintings of Claude Monet

Seeing life in a different way;

The light and laughter of a thousand years

Walk in the spaces of the kings and their peers;

A spiritual love not always seen

Louise de la Valliere and her king;

Reims Cathedral in its golden light

An inspiration for those who see

And Joan of Arc who brought them

to their knees;

To march through life to a golden beat;

Mont St Michel and its gleaming sea

Beauty, spirituality, majesty be-

And the bubbles in a crystal glass overflow for me;

Imagination/inspiration

The land for me;

A place I always would like to be;

I want to dance to the magic of a different beat;

See life and its images from a different street;

Seek goodness and mercy for the days of my life

Finding life fullsome in God's given sight;

A wonderful earth in its glory and might;

Wandering around Paris

on a sunny afternoon

Seeking out the places

where the flowers do bloom

Coloured little awnings

and my heart does yearn:

Chasing rainbows from a different shore:

Searching for answers of a life before:

Green leaves fluttering by the River Seine

Swirling and twisting,

Once a King's Domain

A sign that some things stay the same;

I call out to the Parisian gods upon their throne

“Why was there a revolution in your home?”

Beauty in statues, costumes,

architecture too;

A masked ball in a Marble Hall

visit the sights at Les Halles:

some things always do last

glimpsed through a prism of the past:

The colours of the landscape never dim with time

Paintings and musings by the river bank

The Sun and the Moon will always glance back;

shining forth light, energy,

serenity

and beauty sublime; -

on wonderful Paris in May Spring-time;

A stream of many colours sweeps a distant vine

glorious crimson colours in a sunset chime

indigo, yellow, gold and crimson wine

Enhanced by chestnut trees and the fragrant pine;

A ray of sunshine beckons from a distant time;

A song of love and hope plays across the fields

Patterned by the moon light of a thousand yields:

I heard it through the grape-vine of a thousand years

Echoes in the distance for all to hear

Lifted ever so sweetly which the breezes bear;

Through the mists of Carcassonne and the early morning dew

never so firmly planted and the life we knew

Down through the valleys and mountains too

the beauties of nature sing life anew:

the wonders of nature all day through-

A song of the sparrows in a sun blessed land;

And sea-birds wheel and cry as they take flight,

gliding so gracefully over sea-shore and sand:

Winging their messages of joy in a sky blue refrain:

Romans set their standards, planted vines

In the beautiful countryside, its contours and lines,

Built their houses, settled in old time Gaul

land of colour, beauteous wonder for the soul,

the earth, the soil and all to behold

land of people, the Franks and their gold;s

and the people came “par-ici”

“By this way”

Came to say: “Parisi!”

A Land of Many Colours,

Thy Destiny: