A graceful and solemn song: on David Elliott's 'Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc'
Cover of Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc, book by David Elliott, book design by Sharismar Rodriguez
Hello! I hope, whoever and wherever you are, you’re having a most beautiful day and that you’re staying sane inside amidst the chaos of COVID-19. For those who are still working, I hope you are safe and well. I cannot remember how long ago I purchased this poetry book, but I bought it both because I have a fervent interest in Jeanne d’Arc, AKA Joan of Arc AKA the Maid of Orléans, and because the book is gorgeous. I will be the first to admit that I absolutely judge a book by its cover, and this was no exception. Given the art is by Charlie Bowater (one of the biggest names in book covers and character art right now), how could I refuse? But then I opened the book and began to recite the lines before me, and I quickly fell for the words I spoke.
There are multiple types of poetry to be found in Voices, all from around and shortly after Jeanne’s lifetime. From Jeanne’s regular poems, more closely related to spoken word, which carry roughly half this book to the great artefacts finding a voice via the triolet, to ballades (not ballads) for Saints Michael, Catherine, and Margaret – they who spoke to the Maid during the most significant part of her life. It is not just Jeanne herself who receives the chance to speak, but multiple sides — even down to inanimate objects of significance. One of my favourite poems is that of her famous blade, that which was once Charles Martel’s – The Sword at Fierbois. The lines shaped into a sword across two pages, it sings of a fatigue from war and bloodshed, and the incredible wonder of how Jeanne could possibly have found it. After all, this was a sword for which many had searched for centuries to no avail. Yet somehow, Jeanne just knows.
Carrying the narrative like the solemn yet sweet inevitability that it was is the fire which would ultimately claim Jeanne’s life. It helps begin the primary contents of this book, barely a smoulder. Yet every so often, it re-emerges, slightly bigger – a reminder that the fire will take her. Yet it never feels harsh or too bright, but rather a companion, one to comfort and shield from the darkness that lingers and eventually sentences Jeanne to her fate.
The story begins with her youth in Domrémy, of her comfortable family life and the seemingly unavoidable fate that is for her to be a wife and mother. The story gives a voice to others who know there is something different about her, including her parents. It chronicles the ridicule she faces, the key artefacts she adopts and abandons, and the battles she wins. Until she loses, and the immediate distrust in her takes hold, all leading to her capture by the English and her eventual execution. Her life is short, dying at just 19 years of age, and yet she is perhaps one of few names that almost anyone in the world could list off the tops of their heads.
Though this book only scratches the surface of who she was, it does instead dedicate its time to some of the other voices found at the time. Though at times the words are harder to read, spoken by those who wronged her, they are there nonetheless to provide a more rounded view of the scene. For better or worse, universal perspectives on one subject do often help the book feel more balanced. In the case of Voices, this is undeniably true; after all, not just any book could feature the perspective of a red dress and have it work.
One thing I liked most about this book was its formatting. With a unique, uneven fore-edge already establishing it as a stunning book, the words within arranged in different sizes, colours, the shades of the flames fading the closer to the bottom of the page they rest. The configuring of the words into rings, arrowheads, armour, swords, towers, the different fonts and the placement of direct quotes featured throughout the book… Voices is as much a visual experience as it is an audial one. And the audial half, all of it rolls right off the tongue.
Everything in this book is dedicated to the art of storytelling, of doing the Maid of Orléans justice. Jeanne’s story is portrayed with a solemn beauty, a tragedy and a grace, and here, I felt that her voice rang loud and clear. Read in under two hours, Voices is one I would highly recommend all of you find and embrace. If not for meeting one of the world’s great heroes, then to immerse oneself in a 195-page audio-visual song.
Jeanne d’Arc, painted by Albert Lynch
But that’s all from me today. I know this is something of a departure from my Star Wars reviews, but I cannot begin to express how good it’s felt to sink my teeth into a book. Truly, it’s been too long since I really dove into one. And now I have all these new voices in my head. All the same, thank you for reading, and I hope you have a most beautiful day!
— Charis.
