“Not illuminated by the sun, but generated within,”
\nSays Procopius, referring to the radiance.
\nThe dome seems to float above a ring of light,
\nAnd the sunbeams, all we know of heaven,
\nCross and recross in their descent, amplifying
\nEach other and casting complex shadows,
\nShifting in pattern with the time of day.
\nThe system of support, admitting so much light,
\nIs burdened to its extreme, and the columns
\nShed fine flakes of stone in their distress.<\/p>\n
Hagia Sophia, an unorthodox construction,
\nWas imagined by Anthemius and Isidore, both Greeks,
\nAt the behest of Justinian and with the grace of God.
\nIn points of design, in the question of funding,
\nSometimes an angel was required to intervene.
\nEven so, there have been accidents.
\nIn May of 558, the dome itself collapsed;
\nBut the fallen portions are always rebuilt,
\nRedesigned or replicated according to circumstances,
\nProducing slow motion across fourteen hundred years.<\/p>\n
Ottoman Turks razed the atrium, raised four minarets,
\nAnd the golden tessellation, representing heaven,
\nHas largely been destroyed. It is miraculous
\nThat the structure itself survives, withstanding
\nOver two hundred earthquakes and having suffered
\nInvading armies to ride right to its altar.
\nAnd now we, too, make the approach,
\nApproximating our intentions and design,
\nBearing the marks of our own mutability,
\nIdeas insisted upon.<\/p>\n
________________<\/p>\n
Poetry, Vol. 134, No. 2 (May, 1979), p. 86. Thanks to Sylvain for sending this poem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“Not illuminated by the sun, but generated within,” Says Procopius, referring to the radiance. The dome seems to float above a ring of light, And the sunbeams, all we know of heaven, Cross and recross in their descent, amplifying Each other and casting complex shadows, Shifting in pattern with the time of day. The system […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_disable_autopaging":false},"categories":[9,2,16,13,12,10],"tags":[3693,118,3692,1406,548,1142,3696,1047,3702,3698],"class_list":["post-1565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-europe","category-greek-architecture","category-greek-art","category-greek-history","category-modern-literature","category-orthodox-christianity","tag-anthemius","tag-byzantium","tag-george-bradley","tag-greeks","tag-hagia-sophia","tag-justinian","tag-minarets","tag-ottoman-turks","tag-radiance","tag-tessellation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1565\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}