In lieu of an overture: Philippe Jaroussky singing "Che farò senza Euridice" from Orfeo ed Euridice by Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714–87)
The musicians rank above us
I submit, lover of language
Though I am: no poet I know of can
Set the soul reeling like Bach, Gluck,
Schubert, or a hundred others.
Or move cold feet like rock 'n roll and jazz.
I'd say we might pass for younger brothers
If claim were made to Shakespeare's gauge,
But by that standard I'm an also-ran.
Best would be to combine poet and musician,
Like Orpheus, both demigod and man,
Who even so lost track of his main squeeze.
The ideal's as far off as peace or cold fusion;
We must make the best of the illusion:
One does what one does well when one can please,
And if no tornado, sufficiency's a breeze.
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