A poem for Charles’s biggest moment, from 360 years ago
A POTTER has inscribed a 360-year-old sonnet celebrating the coronation of King Charles II on to six handmade bowls to celebrate the crowning of the current King in May.
Carole Bennett found the 17thcentury poem while hunting for medieval literature in Oxford University’s research library, and said it would put the nation in the “right celebratory mood” for the crowning.
The Coronation Vases will form the centrepiece of her next exhibition, showcasing what she believes is a message that transcends from the last King Charles to the current one.
She said: “The poem is really relevant – I think Charles’s Coronation will be a time for celebration and positivity because he is an amazing person who cares about the planet and he cares about people who are totally marginalised in society. What he believes in and has done for many decades is a real cause for celebration… I think his values are really fantastic”.
The poem, written by Edward Pococke in 1660, celebrates the return of Charles II to Britain after years in exile following the English Civil War and describes the former King as banishing shadows with his light.
One translation from the poem’s Latin version, by Dr James Parkhouse, reads: “This is nature’s order, first light followed shadows; Charles, there were shadows, which your light banished. May your splendour shine and increase, glorious King, While the radiance of the sun blazes with unquenched fire.”
The poem’s author was a professor of Arabic and Hebrew at Oxford University and his sonnet captured the jubilant mood of the nation.
Mrs Bennett said: “It’s just one of those wonderful discoveries that sometimes happen in the world of art, you come across something really special and I think it is really relevant.”
The exhibition opens at Brighton Pavilion on Mar 21.