Chant Royal

  To May, the Prince of Months by Eustache Deschamps (1346–1406), translated from French by Margaret Coats Noble month, father to Zephyr balmy, Brother to Pallas, Juno’s uncle―and lo, Kissing cousin caught by Venus’ beauty, Unnumbered sons and daughters you can show. Through love you make new leaves and flowers...

. Ruby Jubilee We’ve made a grand tour of exuberance, Repeated as our hearts reverberate, Imagining abodes where we might dwell For seasons long enough to celebrate Red-letter days our travel plans foretell. Though rooms or rain or hindrances displease, Experience and memory advance The journey through our realm of...

. To Saint John the Evangelist by Eustache Deschamps (c. 1346–1406) | translated from French by Margaret Coats Young, perfect, just, in all you had to do, Fresh virile flower of virginity, O man of marvels, to describe Him who Is Son of God in very Deity! You fed at...

. In Love's Counting House by Charles d’Orléans (1394–1465) One day I asked my heart to heed A claim for pay that I commended, And we in secret soon agreed That he would tell, for pains expended In risky service, what descended To me as earnings from Love’s sweets. Most...

. At Matins’ hour, the middle of the night,I woke, and soon found I was not alone;A man who seemed past sixty to my sightThis sentence said, and sang it in good tone:O threefold God on the eternal throne,To be content and love Thee I have cause:My trifling youth is...

  Renowned but wayward Troy, vain Babylon, Harsh Nineveh, and languid Rome were felled; Long ago they exercised dominion, But since from their own lands have been expelled, Or kept small plots, where they disgruntled dwelled. Their sovereignty was lost when, hearts athrob With false ideals, they let themselves be...

For Nantes Cathedral Ravaged by Arson in July 2020, a Tribute  This holy place, where the enthusiasm of builders was succeeded by doubt following catastrophe, then hope expressed in restoration, is it not the symbol of the Church of Christ, and of our own history? – 2015 cathedral brochure Saint...

Choose Wisely Calling for the next U.S. Poet Laureate to be a traditional rhyming poet A double refrained chant royal in iambic pentameter O harken to my plea, as I implore, from need, true classic poetry to save. Sweet words in rhyming rhythms we adore, and metered lines, like those...