Vol. 2 No.2
Exploring trends in all the arts
I would not have these things take possession of my soul.
Let God possess it, he who made them all.
He made them all very good, but it is he who is my Good, not they.
–Augustine
American. Panoramic Landscape with a View of a Small Town, ca 1840s-1850s.
In this issue....
Poetry: Lord Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty”
Design: New American Organ in an Australian Church
Media: Can Beauty Save the World?
Poetry:
Lord Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty”
In each Journal we feature some aspect of literary art. In the month of February we traditionally celebrate love as we buy flowers, chocolate, cards and even write poems for the ones we truly value. Whether it is a friend, a relative, or our spouse–we sense an opportunity for expressing our affection. Shelley said poetry gives its readers “an exalted calm” (A Defence of Poetry); C. S. Lewis said “The poem must please the senses, directly by its rhythms and phonetic texture, indirectly by its images” (“Williams and the Arthuriad”). We all, I believe, develop particular emotional responses to certain poems, of which Lord Byron’s is an example.
She Walks in Beauty
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o’er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express,
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
George Gordon, Lord Byron. "She Walks in Beauty" from Hebrew Melodies.
London: John Murray, 1832-33. Public Domain.
Design:
New American Organ in an Australian Church
New Dobson (USA) Organ at St James Anglican Church in Sydney Australia
In 2018 St James Kings Street in Sydney signed a contract with Dobson Organ Company (Iowa) for a major organ to be installed by mid-year 2024. Despite a 2021 fire which destroyed the Dobson factory, the company continued its commitments. The contract with St James is the first completed project since the fire. The church’s website features photos of the early days, and the now-finished organ case and pipes. Like all major traditional organ builders this process takes 5-6 years, completed as the builders’ voicing team hand-tools each pipe to speak with full tone and color.
See a 360 view of the organ in the sanctuary here
Media
“In a world preoccupied with political battles, culture wars, commercial competition, and status seeking, why should we care about beauty? What does it mean to pursue the good, true, and beautiful — and what difference would it make in real, everyday life?"
Poet Dana Gioia and visual artist Makoto Fujimura are uniquely equipped to consider these questions posed at a recent Trinity Forum. Through their numerous books, paintings, and poems, they have considered the meaning of beauty as it relates to fallen people in a fallen world.
Mere Beauty is a forum to encourage artists to explore works of beauty,
share resources, and go deeply into the treasures around us...
A Word from Terry Yount
Executive Creator, Mere Beauty
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As always, take every opportunity to contemplate the beauty all around us. Once you have fully enjoyed the experience of transcendent music, literature, architecture, painting, and more–pass it on to someone who may need it.
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