Here is John Hall Wheelock’s poem Beethoven. It wonderfully encapsulates the image of Beethoven created by Hoffmann and the early Romantics. Curiously, it was written somewhere between 1912 and 1921 as near as I can tell. It’s a powerful way to tell Beethoven’s story, and it’s not surprising that it continues down to the current day.
BEHOLD the tormented and the fallen angel | |
Wandering disconsolate the world along, | |
That seeks to atone with inconsolable anguish | |
For some old grievance, some remembered wrong; | |
To storm heaven’s iron gates with angry longing, | 5 |
And beat back homeward in a shower of song! |
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