"Pity, pity, too late..."

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BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

"Pity, pity, too late..."

#1 Post by BobBradshaw » 06 Aug 2020, 03:17

"Pity, pity, too late..." —Beethoven dying

My friend lay dying in his bed.
His breathing labored, like strong wind.
“Pity, pity, too late,” he said

“to reminisce. Applaud instead.
The comedy’s near done, my friend.”
My friend lay dying in his bed.

“My one regret…I never wed.
My work mattered. I wouldn’t bend.
Pity, pity, too late,” he said.

Don’t despair yet. Spring is ahead.
By then you will be on the mend.
My friend lay dying in his bed.


I wiped the sweat from his forehead.
He hummed a tune he hadn’t yet penned.
“ Pity, pity, too late,” he said.

as wine arrived, his favorite red.
I held his hand until the end.
My friend lay dying in his bed.
“Pity, pity, too late,” he said.

Michael (MV)
Posts: 2154
Joined: 18 Apr 2005, 04:57

Re: "Pity, pity, too late..."

#2 Post by Michael (MV) » 24 Aug 2020, 17:38

Hi Bob,

The musicality is apt here & apropos for the scene.

Too top-heavy b/c of the redundancy; therefore, 1/ Consider just epigraph as title; or 2/ in the title space "Finale" followed by the quote -

"Finale"

Pity, pity, too late... --Beethoven, dying

And not quotes & italics; one or the other, not both - I usually prefer italics.

I prefer epigraph as title b/c it gets on with the finale of the musical show, that is this bio-poem

😎

Michael (MV)

BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

Re: "Pity, pity, too late..."

#3 Post by BobBradshaw » 25 Aug 2020, 00:43

Thanks, Michael. I will do that

BobBradshaw
Posts: 2683
Joined: 03 Jun 2016, 21:03

Re: "Pity, pity, too late..."

#4 Post by BobBradshaw » 25 Aug 2020, 00:48

I am using quotes for Beethoven talking and italics for his friend’s speech. If I used italics for both, it might be confusing.

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