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Restoration of Nôtre Dame

One Paris evening seven years ago,
We walked the neighborhood of Nôtre Dame,
But no café had seats. We settled on
A bench with the cathedral as tableau,
Congenial scene our hearts cannot outgrow.
Could we imagine it might soon be gone,
A ruined temple like the Parthenon?
Fierce fire thereafter raged with fiendish glow,
But no—though heat has broken massive stones,
Our injured Lady her reversion owns:
Each day restorers hasten to learn all
The long-lost arts disaster has to teach
So as to bring past beauties within reach
Where castaways at night can see her call.

Examining stained glass up there on high
They clean off smoke, re-stabilize the frame,
And just for once in centuries can claim
To meet medieval glaziers eye to eye.
From quarries now in suburbs, masons ply
Their tools to cut fresh stone whence burnt blocks came;
To place and brace it, builders do the same
As guildsmen did with iron in times gone by.
The restoration re-commits a nation
To faith and artistry’s continuation:
Public and private lands are searched for trees
Most nearly perfect, like those felled by fire;
The old roof can rise new, the modern spire
Spring back to point toward heaven’s certainties.

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Poet’s Note
On April 15, 2019, fire catastrophically damaged Nôtre Dame de Paris. See a picture with responses from the Society of Classical Poets here. Even after heroic firefighters put out the blaze, it was unclear whether the structure could survive. Nevertheless, authorities at the time vowed to rebuild rapidly, in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Architectural plans with modernizing features were considered, but the decision was made to restore the medieval building as it was, including the 19th-century spire that had collapsed while the world watched the conflagration on television.

This sonnet pair uses the typical French rhyme scheme with rhyming couplet at the turn.

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Margaret Coats lives in California.  She holds a Ph.D. in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University.  She has retired from a career of teaching literature, languages, and writing that included considerable work in homeschooling for her own family and others. 

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The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.


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32 Responses

  1. Cynthia Erlandson

    Beautiful, Margaret and very moving! I love that some of the lines reference the restorers’ point of view, for instance: “And just for once in centuries can claim / To meet medieval glaziers eye to eye.” “To faith and artistry’s continuation” also says so much — it summarizes the purpose of building and rebuilding for the sake of civilization, which needs faith and artistry.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Thanks, Cynthia. I was almost dizzy watching the stained glass experts study the great rose window from a close vantage point they have never had before, and will not be able to get back to, after the restoration is complete.

      Reply
  2. Margaret Coats

    Here is an additional sonnet written more recently, after reading an article on efforts to restore the cathedral’s acoustic qualities. For comparison, in a typical living room, direct sound returns from walls and ceiling in about half a second. In large meeting halls, it takes 3 seconds. In many other cathedrals, the delay is 5 seconds. At Notre Dame, according to 2013 measurements, 6 seconds is average and 8 seconds the maximum.

    Soon after Notre Dame was built, crowds came
    To hear a marvelous new kind of song.
    In organum, two singers droned along
    One tone below chant melody to frame
    The warm reverberation that became
    A means by which grand space enthralled the throng.
    To make sounds linger in a mode as strong
    As then, is resonance restorers’ aim.
    Materials and finish, every choice,
    Unseen or seen, affects the building’s voice,
    As do the persons there, and time of day.
    A part was stricken when the spire collapsed.
    Can we bring back her complex sound delay
    To sense the tonic presence of the past?

    Reply
    • Tom Rimer

      Margaret, I am particularly taken by this poem, which touches on such an important element in the kind of total experience that the builders of the cathedral aimed to create.

      We had the good fortune some thirty years ago to meet the organist at Notre Dame, and he explained the centrality of the musical experience to worshipers in every generation, and he played the organ for us in order to show how the sound moved around in the transept. It was an enthralling experience.

      For those music-loving readers interested in exploring the spiritual aspects of music for the church, I might recommend that you listen to a recording of Hans Pitzner’s PALESTRINA. The composer appears as a character in this mystic and very beautiful opera, written about the time of World War I. It has long been a favorite repertory piece in Germany.

      Reply
      • Margaret Coats

        Tom, thank you for inspiring me to write this extra sonnet on Notre-Dame acoustics, by giving me the New York Times article on it. I did check French language accounts, and found more information, but all that needs to be done is still uncertain. This is one aspect of the restoration where we cannot know results until some time after the entire project is complete, and crowds come in to add their sound-absorbing contribution to the whole. In the meantime, I will certainly put Pitzner’s PALESTRINA on my listening list.

      • Jonicis Bulalacao

        Indeed lingering beautiful and resonant tones have the power to lift up the soul to God.

      • Margaret Coats

        Joni, thank you for noticing this secret sonnet on the tonic quality of organum at Notre-Dame, important because here harmony and later polyphony began. I’m glad to include musical terms, especially “tonic,” because I think droners in organum used the tonic note of the Gregorian mode. Much appreciate your special attention!

    • Monika Cooper

      I got to hear some droning this Holy Week, Good Friday, and it is so beautiful, like an organ but mournful. I stopped following the Notre Dame story (I’ve never seen the cathedral but it hurt too much). I feared they would “wrecko-vate” the beautiful Lady. It’s so good to get the news from your poems of the tender respect going into the restoration project and the revival of faith that’s springing up alongside the old arts and techniques. Your careful craft in telling the details reflects and honors the work being done.

      I read from my children’s picture Bible that Noah’s ark took 100 years to build. Not sure where that number came from, couldn’t find it in the big Bible, but it rang true. In terms of work involved, it must have been something on the scale of a cathedral. And also in terms of majesty of result!

      Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Yes, Monika, the work to restore Notre-Dame is being done incredibly quickly! It is a heart-warming example in these bad times of a nation working together, with justifiable pride and laudable humility toward the great achievements of its past. It is the duty of the French government to organize and pay for needed work on The Patrimony (monuments regarded as a national heritage). But the fire at Notre-Dame elicited a veritable flood of monetary contributions from ordinary people and businesses large and small. With this money in addition to government funds, the project can afford loving care and attention from wherever the greatest expertise is found. Still, as you note, the most important thing seems to be contemporary work in a spirit of traditional faith. As I may have said before, expressions of faith come out unexpectedly from a wide variety of persons. It’s just part of life with the restoration process, as it should be!

      Reply
  3. Julian D. Woodruff

    I guess in a sense the world has been holding its breath while this restoration and reclamation proceeded. but especially the French. To them ND is a national treasure–which they own. I hope that the work and the historical encounters of which your poem speaks, Margaret, help bring about renewed recognition that “Locus iste a deo factus est.”

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      I hope so as well, Julian. An encouraging sign to me is all the spontaneous expressions of faith from those involved in restoration work. It’s not all pride in expertise when they’re interviewed. May that healthy attitude continue and spread.

      Reply
  4. Jeremiah Johnson

    Funny, I was going to comment on your poem, but I discovered that others have already remarked on my favorite lines and already iterated my thoughts on it. I’m definitely going to share this poem with some friends. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Jeremiah, I’m happy to know your thoughts and favorite lines, in whatever way you post your response! Thanks for reading and for sharing the poem with others.

      Reply
  5. Paul Freeman

    Bravo, Margaret! Your double sonnet reads very fluidly and gives us much to ponder.

    On French TV I saw a program where they were sourcing and sawing suitable trees. Fascinating stuff, and you’ve expanded it to glaziers and stonemasons.

    I especially liked the matter-of-fact anecdote of being in the shadow of Notre Dame seven years ago.

    Thanks for the read.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Thank you, Paul. There seems to be a series of TV programs from France on different aspects of the restoration, running with English subtitles here in the U. S. I too was impressed with the one on the search for perfect trees. They have access to most forest land in France, because anyone is honored if some of his trees are chosen. I hope they will do a program on the acoustics, because an interview I saw with the man in charge points out that everything they are doing (with wood, stone, iron, glass, flooring) contributes to sound–but of course that’s something we can’t see!

      Reply
      • Paul Freeman

        Spurred by your poem, Margaret, I’ve submitted a sonnet on Cathedrals that I wrote around the time of the Notre Dame fire, but which has been sitting on the computer doing nowt.

      • Margaret Coats

        I’m glad it will speak to us soon. If the topic is cathedrals in general, rather than a particular one, that will offer insight from a less usual angle.

  6. Roy Eugene Peterson

    The restoration of the cathedral is something I have followed as ancient treasures have been uncovered. Your poem is as fascinating as those discoveries and is a treasure all its own. You will be among those to say they saw the cathedral before the fire and after restoration! You were blessed to have been there soaking in the grandeur.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Thank you so much, Roy. I have indeed been blessed by and at Notre Dame de Paris. The very great blessing of leading the 2001 Chartres pilgrimage out of the cathedral and through the streets of the city, was mine along with the company of Orange County, California, pilgrims, organized by Benoit Turpin. In fact, they had earned it for me the previous year, by their reverent and meditative conduct for three days of hard and brisk walking over varied terrain. Thank you for reminding me of this glorious experience. I hope you will have an opportunity to see the restored Notre Dame after next year’s re-opening, God willing!

      Reply
  7. Brian A Yapko

    Margaret, these are two very beautiful sonnets. They are superbly wrought and they offer a personal experience of the material Notre Dame along with a much deeper and more universal perspective which addresses the art and the faith that goes into the building of a cathedral. I am particularly impressed by the phrase in the second sonnet in which you say “The restoration re-commits a nation to faith and artistry’s continuation…” If you are correct and from this tragedy there is a renewal of respect for both faith and tradition, then the burning of Notre Dame, though tragic, has actually served a divine purpose. One is reminded of the concept of “felix culpa” which, of course, refers to the Fall of Man which made Christ’s redemption necessary, possible and an even greater blessing than had the Fall never occurred.

    One sees this renewal of faith after destruction happen again and again in history: the renewal of London and the building of St. Paul’s Cathedral after the Great Fire (symbolically important after the miseries of the Commonwealth); the reconstruction of Catherine Palace (home of the Amber Room) in St. Petersburg after destruction in World War II; the rebuilding of multiple churches and cathedrals throughout Russia once the Soviet Union collapsed. This happened again and again all through Europe after its many wars.

    The restoration and rebuilding of Notre Dame not only restores the Paris skyline and a beloved monument – it offers the people of France a unique opportunity to renew their connection to the Virgin Mary and to God. And the fact that so many hands and hearts are involved in the reconstruction guarantees that the people of the present have an enormous financial and emotional stake in the success of the endeavor. They will take pride in what they have rebuilt and they will come to understand better why it was built in the first place.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      “Chez nous, soyez Reine” (In our home, be Queen) was one of the songs the faithful, on their knees, were singing as the cathedral burned four years ago. She responded that day and that night by interceding with God that no life be lost because of the fire. Not one was lost, although President Macron had been warned that there could be 20 or 30 coffins at the Invalides if he ordered firefighters to save Notre Dame. He didn’t dare to give the order. The decision to fight on was made by the firefighters among themselves. One has said that he did not think he would survive, because as he climbed up burning stairs into one of the towers, the wood crumbled to ashes under his weight. He had no way to get down again. France is full of these stories today and you, Brian, know how powerful stories can be.

      I just had to tell a little that I know, even though I have just begun to respond to your comment. But let me thank you for your usual sensitive reading, and I will reply further after Easter Saturday Mass tomorrow.

      Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Brian, of everything you say in your comment, I think what’s most important is identifying the restoration of Notre Dame as a unique opportunity for the French people. You lead up to it by naming some other disasters that have led to cultural renewal involving the spirit. And I thank you for noticing my anticipation and hope for such a renewal in my second sonnet here.

      Good things take time to manifest themselves. The worst disaster ever to befall France was the Revolution with its Terror everywhere and genocide in the Vendee. Yet that was followed by a century in which France produced numerous saints, founded or restored religious orders, and spread the Faith over the globe. France responded to the world’s first serious attempt at communist revolution by building the Sacre Coeur on Montmartre, where daily Eucharistic adoration later went on throughout the Nazi occupation (and still goes on, the last I knew). From my personal experience, I am most encouraged by twice having participated in the Chartres pilgrimage. This began in 1982 with one man renewing a medieval devotional practice to beg for the cure of his son. The next year 25 friends and neighbors joined him to make the same trek in thanksgiving for the cure. Now about 15,000 people register and maybe 5000 more join along the way. Does this really help counter moral and spiritual decline? Does the rebuilding of Notre Dame de Paris? There are hundreds of people actively involved, and many more actively following the progress and letting their opinions be known. Each of these pebbles makes ripples in the pond. The best way to march uphill isn’t to hoard your breath, but to sing! I say that as someone who continually fell behind even on level ground. The effort is worth it.

      Reply
  8. Joshua C. Frank

    Margaret, this is really good. I can picture the whole thing very easily thanks to your images. I also like the ABBACDDCEEFGGF rhyme scheme—I guess that’s a French sonnet? (I first came across ABBA rhyming in French poetry.)

    It’s a shame that European countries, with all their beautiful cathedrals and everything, are even further along the moral and spiritual decline than the United States.

    Just one thing: shouldn’t that be Notre Dame, without the circumflex? My understanding is that with the circumflex, “nôtre” means “ours” (as in “that’s ours,” or “their mountains are bigger than ours”), but without, it means “our” (as in “our house,” or, in this case “Our Lady”). Or is this a special case I don’t know about?

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Thanks, Josh. I appreciate the comment and hope you will be able to visit Notre-Dame someday. The way I just spelled it (with hyphen for the name of vast numbers of churches) is the common adjectival usage today, while current use of the adjective as a noun demands the circonflex, as you point out. But the circonflex is never incorrect, as it is a single word with the same meaning and varying uses. It come from Latin “noster” and is thus missing an “s” that really should be there, which is what the circonflex says. The older spelling “nostre” is also used and understood throughout the French-speaking world. I use the circonflex in my title and poem to signal that I am using French pronunciation, and show why my rhyme sounds are “awn” imperfectly rhyming with “ahm” and not “aim” rhyming with the English pronunciation of “dame.”

      The most common French sonnet rhyme scheme is abba abba cc deed. Note that in my third sonnet (which is among the comments above because I just recently finished it) has the next most common rhyme scheme, abba abba cc dede. These are variants on the Petrarchan or Italian type. Both Italian and French poets avoid a rhyming couplet as final two lines. The cc couplet at lines 9 and 10 is sometimes used by Italians, but it could be called a French sonnet trademark.

      By the way, I use lower-case letters for rhyme schemes, because I reserve upper-case to indicate a refrain. For example, the most common type of ballade stanza rhymes ababbcbC. The capital C shows that the line needs to be the very same words (with slight variation permitted) in every stanza. Little-letter c means the line needs end-rhyme but does not need to repeat words. This practice is very useful when discussing lyric forms with refrains.

      Thanks once more for your attention and interest.

      Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      And I will say more about hopeful moral and spiritual signs, opposing the European decline, when I get around to finishing my reply to Brian above, since he gave a lot of consideration to these.

      Reply
  9. Cheryl Corey

    Margaret, your poem speaks of a search for the perfect trees. Do you know what kind of trees?

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Oak trees, Cheryl. Oak was used in the past, so that’s what has been collected for use this time. Most of the 1000 or so trees necessary for roof and spire were felled a year or two ago, to give them time to cure, and to give carpenter-artisans time to shape them into the needed pieces. Silly environmental alarmists claimed that there are not enough trees in Europe to re-roof Notre Dame. But although acceptable trees have to be oaks at least 100 years old, straight and solid, without eccentric growth patterns or deformities that might lead to cracking, plenty were found in France. And it was all done sustainably, leaving enough oak for French forests to thrive into the future.

      Reply
  10. Joseph S. Salemi

    Margaret mentions how stained-glass experts have been able to examine the rose window of Notre Dame in a way that was never possible before, and not likely possible ever again. It reminds me of something a professor (who had been in the American Air Force during World War II) told me.

    His bomber was returning from a mission over France, and by sheer accident a bomb was released which hit the gabled roof of a large medieval church. By the grace of God the bomb did not explode, but it broke a hole that sent some chunks of 700-year-old medieval wood down onto the floor of the church.

    He and his air crew made a visit to the church, to apologize to the clergy in charge there, and to offer any recompense or assistance that they might require. The clergy said that this was not necessary, since the damage was slight and would be repaired locally. But they asked the Americans to look at the pieces of wood that had been knocked down.

    These were part of a simple support beam, not very visible from the floor of the church. The surface of the wood had been covered with an inch-thick layer of dirt, dust, and candle smoke from seven centuries. But the bomb’s hit had knocked that layer off. On the newly revealed surface of the wood were beautiful carvings of animal and human figures, and the intricate twistings of vines and other foliage. These carvings had not been done for human appreciation or reward. From the 13th century to 1944, no human had seen them. The medievals who built that church had done them solely ad majorem Dei gloriam.

    The professor told me that this incident was one of the reasons he became a Roman Catholic, and was of more force than any theological arguments.

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      Joe, this is a wonderful example of how an accidental meeting of minds, through art, can have an incalculable effect on the spirit. This must be happening over and over again in the restoration of Notre Dame de Paris. The decision to restore the cathedral of the past, rather than to put a modern impress on it, and to do it using traditional techniques, requires humility and sensitivity that scholars and artists often lack. Yet over and over again I see many of them surprised and delighted at what they learn, and often unafraid to remark on the spiritual effects of the process on them personally. Multiply that by all those not directly involved, but who follow the process with great interest, and it does amount to a something of a societal conversion experience, in favor of the Catholic faith and French tradition.

      Reply
  11. Tom Rimer

    Margaret, these touching poems, each thought and observation moving forward towards the superb final line of the second poem, will surely stir strong memories in anyone who has actually had the experience of visiting Notre Dame. As I read along, I remembered the occasion, many years ago, when my wife and I showed a dear Japanese friend visiting from Tokyo a number of the sights of Paris. He later told us that ” …of all the things we have seen, Notre Dame moved me the most, for it gave me for the first time a glimpse of the spirituality that lies at the core of European civilization. I now understand this fully for the first time.”

    May this remarkable site continue to fulfill that function forever!

    Reply
    • Margaret Coats

      What a wondrous wish, Tom! And yet, Notre-Dame will last forever if it is one of those human works tried by fire (as it has been!), yet found to be made of gold, silver, and precious stones rather than wood, hay, and straw. That’s I Corinthians 3:12 and surrounding verses. Your Japanese friend, comprehending in the cathedral, for the first time on his part, “the spirituality at the core of European civilization,” testified why people all over the world are awaiting the re-opening. And why the care taken to rebuild Notre-Dame as it was, is laudable and indeed glorious work.

      Reply

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