Flame in Chalice

by Nicholas Roerich

Nicholas Roerich is master of the singing word no less than of the singing form and color. His poetry is direct, simple, arrow-like. It has the same vibrant touch of the master, the same sense of mysticism and cosmic unfoldment found in his paintings. The depth and intensity, the rhythmic sweep and exaltation that mark his work as artist is no less present here. His lyric words, like so many singing arrows, fly straight to their invisible goal. Light rays out powerfully from the lines. It is evident that they have been "made in flame as nature makes."
In the poetry of Roerich, finally, there is a fullness and expansion of consciousness, a vibration of light and color, a sense of prophecy and ongoing, of search, discovery and fulfilment that is as much part of his singing word as of the colors and contours of his brush. These poems are true children of the Flame in Chalice.

110 pages, ebook

First published May 31, 1942

About the author

Nicholas Roerich, also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (alternative transliteration) (Russian: Никола́й Константи́нович Ре́рих), was a Russian painter, writer, archaeologist, public figure, mystic, enlightener and philosopher.

Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia to the family of a well-to-do notary public, he lived around the world until his death in Punjab, India. Trained as an artist and a lawyer, his interests lay in literature, philosophy, archaeology and especially art. Roerich was a dedicated activist for the cause of preserving art and architecture in times of war. He earned several nominations for the Nobel Prize. The so-called Roerich Pact was signed into law by the United States and most member nations of the Pan-American Union in April 1935.