listening to beethoven

now here we find the music straight and pure
across the cables and through space it flows
in manner certain and with method sure
i visualise the musicians in their neat rows
the string players as a mass moving their bows
behind the horns and woodwinds play their part
this is the composer's and conductor's noble art
no halt or hesitation no coughs to mar the sound
in my mind's eye i watch trained fingers dart
from simplest action comes what's most profound

if in some dank dungeon you would me immure
i could with music the darkest spirits oppose
though i've never learned to read the partiture
on each days journey driven from desired repose
the sound in my head's divine almost it glows
it bears me through the workplace and the mart
and when it ends once more i make it start
the tireless players return for one more round
in tiniest package whole orchestras i cart
from simplest action comes what's most profound

though some may carp this music will endure
long after we've left the concerts and shows
snug in our brains in comfort most secure
we know its pleasures even in the final throes
of pain and torment it's the sound that goes
straight and direct to lodge within the heart
although life deals us strokes that burn and smart
the thought of music will all fears confound
we'll find hope and consolation on the chart
from simplest action comes what's most profound

prince in not many hours we will this place depart
not for the sake of music nor yet for the upstart
cacophonies that in these dull days abound
to other ears our words and thoughts impart
and all this melody we'll soon again restart
from simplest action comes what's most profound