Rheims
By Frank Oliver Call
In royal splendour rose the house of prayer,
Its mystic gloom arched over by the flight
Of soaring vault; above the nave's dim night
Rich gleamed the painted windows wondrous fair.
Sweet chimes and chanting mingled in the air;
Blue clouds of incense dimmed the vaulted height;
And on the altar, like a beacon light,
The gold cross glittered in the candles' glare.
To-day no bells, no choirs, no incense cloud,
For thou, O Rheims art prey of evil powers;
But with a voice a thousand times more loud
Than siege-guns echoing round thy shattered towers,
Do thy mute bells to all the world proclaim
Thy martyred glory and thy foeman's shame.
June, 1916
Poem Analysis:
Frank Oliver Call’s sonnet “Rheims” (also spelled Reims) is a deeply evocative and mournful reflection on the destruction of one of Europe’s great cathedrals during World War I. In just 14 lines, Call moves from the sublime beauty of sacred architecture and worship to the devastation wrought by war, transforming the poem into a powerful tribute to cultural resilience and a condemnation of senseless violence.
Context and Historical Background
The poem refers to Rheims Cathedral in France, a Gothic masterpiece and the traditional site of the coronation of French kings. In 1914, during the early months of World War I, German artillery shelled Rheims, causing extensive damage to the cathedral — an act that shocked and outraged much of the world, as the building symbolized centuries of spiritual and cultural heritage.
Call, a Canadian poet and professor, captures this historical moment with solemn reverence, using the cathedral as both literal and symbolic representation of European civilization under siege.
The Octave: A House of Prayer in Glory
“In royal splendour rose the house of prayer...”
The poem opens with an idealized, almost mystical vision of the cathedral. Words like “royal splendour,” “mystic gloom,” “soaring vault,” and “wondrous fair” evoke an atmosphere of awe and sanctity. Call’s imagery emphasizes height and light:
- “Soaring vault” and “painted windows” suggest the elevation of the spirit.
- “Blue clouds of incense,” “candles’ glare,” and “gold cross glittered” enhance the sensory immersion.
The cathedral is alive with:
- Sound: “chimes and chanting”
- Scent: “incense”
- Sight: “painted windows,” “beacon light”
This opening creates a spiritual and cultural Eden, a sacred world soon to be shattered.
The Sestet: Destruction and Defiant Witness
“To-day no bells, no choirs, no incense cloud...”
With a jarring shift, the poem moves to the present — a time of silence and ruin. The joyful, harmonious sounds of worship are replaced by the violence of siege guns. The line:
“For thou, O Rheims art prey of evil powers”
frames the destruction as a moral crime — not just a military act, but a spiritual desecration.
However, Call transforms the tragedy into a moral triumph. Though the cathedral is mute, it speaks:
“With a voice a thousand times more loud / Than siege-guns...”
The personified bells, though silent, proclaim a message more powerful than any weapon: the “martyred glory” of the cathedral and the “foeman’s shame.” This is where Call’s artistry shines: he turns a scene of loss into a moral reckoning — a poetic act of remembrance and resistance.
Themes and Interpretations
- The Destruction of Beauty and Culture: Call mourns the loss not just of stone and glass, but of civilizational memory and human artistry. Rheims Cathedral is a symbol of all that is sacred, inherited, and fragile — a victim of a war that trampled not only people but the soul of a continent.
- War as Desecration: By calling the attackers “evil powers,” Call implicitly contrasts spiritual light with military darkness. The war is not simply politics or power — it is a spiritual assault, a violation of peace, beauty, and divine space.
- Silence as Witness: Ironically, the destroyed cathedral speaks more loudly than it ever did. This idea of mute testimony — of ruins crying out against injustice — is a potent literary motif, and Call uses it to elevate Rheims from a damaged structure to a symbol of moral victory.
- Martyrdom and Immortality: The phrase “martyred glory” frames the cathedral in religious terms: Rheims becomes a martyr — innocent, suffering, and ultimately exalted. Its destruction assures its immortality, as its silence becomes part of a broader historical and ethical indictment.
Style and Tone
Call’s diction is elevated and reverent, appropriate to both the subject matter and the sonnet form. He draws on religious and liturgical imagery — “altar,” “incense,” “cross,” “chanting,” “beacon light” — creating a sacred aura around the cathedral.
The tone shifts from awe and nostalgia to sorrow and moral condemnation, then finally to defiant admiration. The result is a layered emotional experience: admiration for the past, mourning for the present, and hope that such beauty still endures through memory and meaning.
A Cathedral’s Enduring Voice
“Rheims” is not only an elegy for a building; it is a lament for the spiritual cost of war. In Frank Oliver Call’s hands, the ruined cathedral does not fall into silence. Instead, it speaks with new, terrible clarity — reminding the world of what was lost, and what violence truly destroys.
Through the structure of a sonnet — a form often reserved for love and beauty — Call offers a poetic resistance to the brutality of war. The poem becomes a kind of verbal restoration, where art reclaims what destruction tried to erase.
In the end, Rheims Cathedral stands, if not in stone, then in memory, meaning, and moral witness — its “mute bells” forever tolling for a world that once was, and a future that must remember.