A Song for Charles Ives

Charles Ives (1874 - 1954), considered the first true American voice in classical music, creator of the tone cluster...and as an insurance agent, of the concept of estate planning. A personal hero.

America the Beautiful broken
into variations, reassembled
at fifteen, while your friends played ball, tumbled
after grounders.  Met her, vows were spoken,
children came, a job to feed and shelter.
Insurance, managed risk made up your days
while music filled your nights and underlaid
a counterpoint of art and home.  She felt your
dualistic muse; the age-old tale
of starving artist held no taste for you.
Forty years of working every breath
until the night your muse's heart would fail.
You lived for years with your worst fear come true,
for you had starved your artist to his death.

Reviews

[FJ Davis]

Ives's muse departure may have been more our loss, than his; he, at least, got to spend time refining his own great work--that's more than most artists get. And, of course, he had previously achieved a high level of success
True be told, I'm not sure I even believe in muse-ism.
I do know this piece is stunning, expertly crafted and indicative of your deep empathy for the apparent suffering of others.

[.]

~ moving beyond measure, monsieur jewel... thank you for sharing his story with your readers... i didn't know about his life and his work... ~ it must have been very tough for him to be him...

[Joel M Frye]

From all accounts, he seemed to enjoy it until his music stopped one evening. He then spent the last 30+ years of his life re-working old themes and pieces. Thank you kindly, mlle. serah.

[.]

~ wow... that must've been really painful...
~ the privilege is all mine...