King Charles: Fletching artist inscribes ancient Arabic text on coronation vases

The poem makes reference to light driving away the dark and the "glorious" King's splendour

A sonnet hundreds of years old has been inscribed onto six vases to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III by an artist from East Sussex.

Calligrapher Carole Bennett carefully crafted the collection in her Fletching studio after stumbling across the 17th Century poem.

The Arabic text was written by Edward Pococke to celebrate the coronation of another monarch, King Charles II.

Ms Bennett described it as a "warm and hopeful" poem.

It come to light after conversations between Ms Bennett and Samera Hassan, from academic group Medieval and Early Modern Orients (MEMOs), and The Bodleian Library.

Ms Bennett said: "The poem is incredibly beautiful, full of joy and optimism and it seemed right to incorporate it into a new body of work, in time for the coronation."

Ms Bennet said she was passionate about the Arabic language and was excited to discover the poem

She used the original text in both Arabic and Latin, inscribing it onto a series of six triumphal bowls, named The Coronation Vases.

The objects formed part of her latest exhibition, Reflections of the Silk Road, at Brighton's Royal Pavilion.

Ms Bennett, who researches ancient and medieval Arabic texts and inscribes them onto porcelain bowls and vessels, said she was passionate about the language.

"It is a wonderful coincidence to come across a poem written in Arabic celebrating the coronation of King Charles II when we are about to witness the coronation of our own king," she said.

"It was delightful to discover that a deep fascination and love of the beautiful Arabic language was as alive and well in the early 17th Century as it is today."

The poem has now been inscribed on six porcelain vases to celebrate the upcoming coronation in May

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