Evening Concert, Saint-Chapelle

Evening Concert, Saint-Chapelle
John Updike

The celebrated windows flamed with light
directly pouring north across the Seine;
we rustled into place. Then Violins
vaunting Vivaldi's strident strength, then Brahms,
seemed to suck with their passionate sweetness,
bit by bit, the vigor from the red,
the blazing blue, so that the listening eye
saw suddenly the thick black lines, in shapes
of shield and cross and strut and brace, that help
the holy glowing fantasy together.
The music surged; the glow became a milk,
a whisper to the eye, a glimmer ebbed
until our beating hearts, our violins
were cased in thin but solid sheets of lead.

This poem shows that music can be seen and felt, not just heard. "The vigor from the red, the blazing blue, so that the listening eye saw suddenly thick black lines." This line explains to the reader that the music was meant more than just to be heard. This reminds me of a part in the movie Ratatouille when the rat is explaining to his brother that food taste differently when paired with different foods. He has his brother imagine what the tastes look, move, and sound like. This poem has the same concept that something taken in with one sense can be taken in with other senses. When we hear a rhythm, we can feel the base moving up and down, our eyes want to flow to the beat, and our body wants to move to the melody. To me, that's what the author is describing in this poem. He is describing what he sees and feels when he hears the music at Saint-Chapelle. 

I had to do a little bit of Research to understand what Vivaldi and Brahms was. I already knew that the Seine River flows through Paris so I assumed that the church overlooks the river. Antonio Vivaldi was an Italian composer and priest born in 1678 who was very influential over Europe.  Johannes Brahms was another inspirational composer that was born in Germany in 1833. I’m pretty sure the narrator was playing the music because of the  line, “until our beating hearts, our violins were cased....” So if the narrator was playing the beautiful music, was he thinking of these two men while he was playing the songs? And were the songs actually Vivaldi’s and Brahms’ composed pieces?

The last line strikes me. I cannot tell if the solid sheets of lead are referring to something permanent, as if the music played was making history, or if it refers to the music being over and the violins being stored in a sturdy case. If it is the former, then that would seem more purposeful; however, if it is the latter, then it would make more sense. Maybe its neither and I’m just making the wrong assumptions.