Poetry: On Beethoven’s deafness and his 'Ode to Joy'

One story tells that as he saw the birds fly out
when Pummerin was rung, he knew that all was gone —
bird calls in Vienna's woods, the shepherd's flute,
the ticking clock, the gong; he knew the singing,
ringing, storming in his head could be but notes
and not the lark, the wren, the warbler's song,

and yet those notes exploded into fires
of every sorrow, joy that man has known,
in trumpets, flutes, in cymbals, strings,
in tones that only other ears could hear.
His ears were stone.

So when the great amen came in the wind,
he faced it willingly, hearing finally
the everlasting joy of song, of chords,
of melodies his head and heart descried
that opened wide his shuttered ears
and ours, to let us hear the voice
of God.

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Grayce Scholt is a retired English professor from Mott College who wrote art reviews for the Flint Journal. Her book of poetry, Bang! Go All the Porch Swings, is available online from Amazon and locally at Pages Bookstore in downtown Flint.