Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BEETHOVEN'S MUSIC TO FAUST, by HENRY JOHNSON (1855-1918)


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BEETHOVEN'S MUSIC TO FAUST, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O god of loving mercy, wilt thou deign
Last Line: —fetch me my book and leave me here alone.
Subject(s): Beethoven, Ludwig Van (1770-1827); Composers; Faust; Music & Musicians


O God of loving mercy, wilt Thou deign
To hear my prayer that yet a little while,
Only a little space I may beguile
This misery, creating once again?

Be it not yet in vain that I have learned
To weave the myriad-colored robe of thought,
With purest gold and richest gems inwrought,
While in my heart of hearts Thy fire burned.

If it be wrong, my brother, to have grieved
At thy distress, and sought to enter in
To all that's hidden, then our art is sin,
And we are all deceivers and deceived.

My sister, I have lived thy life with thee
From merry childhood to the thoughtful days
Of womanhood with forward-looking gaze
And suffered with thee in thine agony.

And paid the utmost farthing to atone
For all thou didst, and found at last release
From this world's mystery in perfect peace.
—Fetch me my book and leave me here alone.





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