Ekphrastic, Historical Nonfiction, Paint Chip Poetry, Wales / / By

Tintern Abbey

Are you art, architecture,
or are you heavenly sent?
One thing for certain
time with you is well spent

Built of old red sandstone
spanning 400 years
nearly a millennium later
you have very few peers

Sitting stoic and majestic
along side the river Wye
remains of transept gables
point up toward the sky

The roof long departed
sunlight begets a warm glow
it reaches ground level
where succulent grass grows

You once housed King Edward
and endured the Black Plague
your countless other visitors
remain somewhat vague

Gothic architecture design
Tintern Abbey by name
you still stand proud
which is part of your fame

——

Tintern Abbey Photographs

About Tintern Abbey / Abaty Tyndryn

Tintern Abbey is located on the Welsh bank of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, Wales. Founded in 1131 by Walter de Clare, Lord of Chepstow, it was the first Cistercian foundation in Wales. The main buildings were built during a 400-year period ending 1536, with its first mass occurring in 1288. The Dissolution of Monasteries by King Henry VIII was the beginning of the end for Tintern Abbey.

Additional articles:

Tintern Abbey has prompted other poems, including William Wordsworth’s ‘Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey’.

——

My ekphrastic poem in response to Linda Kruschke’s Ekphrastic Paint Chip Poetry Prompt.

EKPHRASTIC POETRY (as defined by the poetry dictionary by John Drury): Poetry that imitates, describes, critiques, dramatizes, reflects upon, or otherwise responds to a work of nonliterary art, especially visual. Although paintings may be the most common subjects of poems about visual art, there are also poems about sculptures, drawings, prints, and architecture. . . .

THE CHALLENGE: I would like you to select one photo from my gallery to write about. This week you have six paint chip words and phrases (well, five words and one phrase) to choose from. I’d like you to use at least three in your ekphrastic poem to “add something to its language that takes off from the picture, or talk[s] back to it.” The available paint chips are croissant, warm glow, waffle, heavenly, succulent, and rattlesnake.

Linked to dVerse~Poets Pub Open Link Night: Did you know you’re in my circle?

Linked to dVerse Poetics — Panegyric Poetry.

30 thoughts on “Tintern Abbey”

  3. lillian

    This so reminds me of the Unfinished Church in St George, Bermuda!! Google it….you’ll see the images. The big difference is the one in Bermuda was never finished…so the remains are remains that never got to be a complete church. They were not bombed – did not deteriorate – were not abandoned. It just was stopped.

    Reply
  4. Ingrid

    A nod to one of my all-time favourite poems, I really enjoyed your poem because you have shown me something of the Abbey itself, which I have never visited!

    Reply
  5. sanaarizvi

    This is absolutely gorgeous! I love “The roof long departed sunlight begets a warm glow it reaches ground level where succulent grass grows.” 🙂

    Reply
  6. scotthastiepoet

    Very pleasing tribute to a historically important and beautiful location, Ron… Nice too to be reminded of its significance,

    Reply
  7. kim881

    I’m not religious, but I love history and architecture, no matter how pristine or ruined. I like these lines very much:
    ‘The roof long departed
    sunlight begets a warm glow’.

    Reply
  9. msjadeli

    Even as a “dinosaur” without a roof it is astounding. When I see how dwarfed humans are inside, I think of a Big God. It’s weird when I think of sand I think of the wind blowing it away, but as sandstone, this remains.

    Reply
    1. Ron Rowland

      Thank you. That is what I always strive for, although I usually don’t achieve what I’m striving for.

      Reply
  11. navasolanature

    ‘time with you is well spent’ reminds me of Maeve Binchy on what makes a good read. Time well spent. Soon, please soon let us be able to visit these amazing places. I went to Fountains Abbey but have never been to Tintern. You remind me to explore the area and Offa’s Dyke.

    Reply
    1. Ron Rowland

      I didn’t make to Fountain’s Abbey on my UK tour, but I did manage to get to about a half-dozen of them. To my surprise, I found the Abbey’s to be much more enjoyable than the old castles, and the missing roofs were likely a big part of that.

      Reply
      1. navasolanature

        Yes, unfortunately Henry destroyed many abbeys but kept the castles. They are impressive and with that sense of loss, decay and the past with the missing roofs! Just as well as too expensive to fix now.

        Reply
  15. Beverly Crawford

    You did a marvelous job of taking us there, Ron. I can imagine it emanates the feeling of a sacred place.

    Reply
  18. ben Alexander

    Ron, I constantly learn new things from you – thank you! 🙂

    BTW,

    your countless other visitors
    remain somewhat vague

    Does this mean that we don’t know who else visited the abbey?

    <3
    David

    Reply
    1. Ron Rowland

      In one of my former lives, I made all of my marketing presentations and writings educational. I can’t stomach many sales techniques, so an educational approach better aligned with my personality. I have never formally been a teacher, although I’ve often felt like one.

      As for “other visitors” I’m assuming if they ever kept records of visitors, then they stopped at some point. I know they didn’t write my name down.

      Reply
  22. Anonymous

    Truly enjoyed the poem and photographs, Ron. I don’t know why I never realized it was in Wales or that it was the first Cisercian Abbey there since I grew up loving Wordsworth’s poem on it. But it seems fitting. I used to live near a Cistercian Abbey in the southern U.S.
    pax,
    dora

    Reply

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