Red bricked arch Red rose adorned Frames the entrance Bringing enchantment To meet history In this secluded pile
Once-stabled steeds Whinny in wonder From their equine tombs And boast of times when Bridle bit and brace Had cause to adorn These ancient crumbling Cobwebbed stalls
Long left to nature And to fate But now in trust To a Nation which remembers And celebrates Its history
Look at him He’s blushing My mother said To those starchy Grown up guests All seated At the formal Wedding breakfast table
Perhaps Mistakenly Imagining The unwanted attention Would be cure For my burgeoning habit
While I So far unnoticed Curled up Claiming invisibility Reddened even more Shrank into my chair Felt the burning heat of my face Burn down through me To a deep hole In the ground beneath
Thus are our Futures set on course Another denigration To be overcome Another mental scar To afflict my dreams Another blandishment foregone Another battle to Accompany me into manhood
Tu Fu ( or Du Fu), who was born in Gongyi in 712 A.D., was one of the foremost poets of the Chinese Tang dynasty. He and Li Bai, are normally thought of as the greatest of all Chinese poets. He died in Changsha, China, in 770 A.D.
I print below, two of his poems, both, as the majority of his poems, exemplify his intense relationship with nature, wildlife, and with the seasons, even amidst the turmoil of the times in which he lived.
(Both designs are my own pen and wash drawings in an attempt at capturing a Chinese style.)
A Spring View
Though a country be sundered, hills and rivers endure; And spring comes green again to trees and grasses Where petals have been shed like tears And lonely birds have sung their grief. … After the war-fires of three months, One message from home is worth a ton of gold. … I stroke my white hair. It has grown too thin To hold the hairpins any more.
A View of Taishan
What shall I say of the Great Peak? – The ancient dukedoms are everywhere green, Inspired and stirred by the breath of creation, With the Twin Forces balancing day and night. …I bare my breast toward opening clouds, I strain my sight after birds flying home. When shall I reach the top and hold All mountains in a single glance?
The dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, London, is an incredible structure, a true work of art in the sense of it being both lovely to look at and requiring incredible precision and workmanship in the design and the construction. Sir Christopher Wren, principal architect, originally produced several different designs for his dome before eventually settling on the one we have today, and of course he used a team of architects, who, through seemingly endless discussion, trial drawings, modelling, and debate, eventually produced this, certainly one of the greatest glories of London. (See photograph below).
From 1710, when the present cathedral was completed, until 1962, St.Paul’s Cathedral was London’s tallest building.
The dome of St.Paul’s is built in 3 sections (see side section view below) …
Stage 1: To the Whispering Gallery; 259 steps. Circles the dome’s interior at 30 metres above the floor of the cathedral transept.
Stage 2: Further up to the Stone Gallery; another 119 steps at 53.4 metres above the ground.
Stage 3: To the Golden Gallery, reducing in size as we get higher . This runs around the highest point of the outer dome. It is 85.4 metres (280 ft) from the cathedral floor below and there are another 150 steps to climb to reach it.
That is a total of 528 steps in all!
Having made the journey to the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral only once in my lifetime, and having also once climbed to the top of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, which claims to have the tallest dome in the world, I found it interesting to make some comparisons between these two domed buildings.
St.Peter’s, Rome, has a height of 448 feet (or 136.5 metres) to the top of its cross. It has 551 steps from the floor of the cathedral to the top of the dome
St Paul’s, London, is 365 feet (or 111 metres); It has 528 steps from the ground floor to the top of its dome.
FOOTNOTE:
On the basis of these figures, I calculate that the average height of the steps of St.Peter’s is approximately 8 inches, whilst the steps of St.Paul’s have an average height of about 8 1/2 inches. So with St.Paul’s having 23 fewer steps to climb, but each one requiring your foot to be raised an additional ½ inch, which steps are the easier to climb? . . . AND ANSWER CAME THERE NONE!
There are several videos on YouTube which will take you up and down these steps to the Dome of St.Paul’s and which give panoramic views of London from the top.
‘Teaching Maths’ … Collage by Clive Butler – c.1984
NUMEROPHOBIA
When numbers leap up at me I often feel scared; They can be aggressive Maker thinking impaired.
I try not to fluster To think these things through, But I can still end up muddled Not having a clue.
In the shop I try hard To keep check on my spend, But I’m easily distracted And I have to pretend That I know what I’m doing, Mind and brain won’t agree; Are two for the price of one Same as buy one get one free?
When I’m with my bank statement Checking up what I’ve spent, Deducting those refunds Allowing for rent, Assuming some interest, Checking those bills, It gives me a headache – Cue for some pills.
Life should be much easier. If only I’d been An attentive student I could have foreseen, That time spent with maths In school in my teens, Might have paid off – Unless it’s my genes!
Three score years and ten I will not see again; At least I know that My bible’s my brain. My life is a number Too large to keep count It’s approaching seven dozen – I demand a recount.
Roland's Ragbag 