Chartres Cathedral

- by Wyke Bayliss

A forest of tall pillars, autumn stained,
Purple and russet grey, through which there glows
A crimson splendour when the day hath waned
And the great orb goes down in calm repose;
High through the vaulted darkness the great Rose
Drifts like a setting sun beyond a zone
Of silvery light where a pale window shows
The story of Christ's Passion writ in stone.
O glory of Art! not thou alone dost wear
These sacred symbols of the Love Divine;
We are his temples also, and do bear
His image on our hearts, as on a shrine
Where the light burns for ever clear and bright,
Though the world drift into eternal night.


- walking the labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral