J.S.Bach: the other side of that most productive life...
He made twenty children,
and when his first wife died
from exhaustion, overstrain and so forth,
he just got another and continued
making children, while she had to work
at home maintaining and supporting,
cooking, serving, washing,
doing everything for his immense expanding family;
and when she died, she had no pension
but was put away into an alms-house,
brutally neglected and ignored
by all her husband's sons and children.
This domestic tragedy is easily forgotten
for his merry stimulating music,
which remains his better mark in history
than the expressive silence of his patient wives.
Poetry by Christian Lanciai
Read 398 times
Written on 2008-01-15 at 20:53
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Bach's poor wives
He made twenty children,
and when his first wife died
from exhaustion, overstrain and so forth,
he just got another and continued
making children, while she had to work
at home maintaining and supporting,
cooking, serving, washing,
doing everything for his immense expanding family;
and when she died, she had no pension
but was put away into an alms-house,
brutally neglected and ignored
by all her husband's sons and children.
This domestic tragedy is easily forgotten
for his merry stimulating music,
which remains his better mark in history
than the expressive silence of his patient wives.
Poetry by Christian Lanciai
Read 398 times
Written on 2008-01-15 at 20:53
Save as a bookmark (requires login) Write a comment (requires login) Send as email (requires login) Print text
