"howling from the climacteric"
Beethoven, Sontag, Rich, Zagajewski, Bronk
Ludwig van Beethoven to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, passing the Empress and several dukes:
Keep hold of my arm. They must make room for us, not we for them.
Henriette Sontag, the soprano at the first performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, turned Beethoven to face the audience so he could see the applause:
Adrienne Rich:
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Adam Zagajewski (tr. from Polish by Renata Gorczynski):
William Bronk:
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Linda Bierds wrote a beautiful poem about Beethoven, which is included in her collection The Ghost Trio. I’ll look for it.