Poor Viktor Hartmann! <br />All that remained of his towering soul <br />Were visions pressed onto paper <br />Hanging in a St. Petersburg gallery. <br /> <br />Mussorgsky advanced his lumbering frame <br />Along the gallery halls <br />Searching for his lost friend. <br /> <br />Sonic images formed in the composer's mind <br />Singing replicas of Hartmann's icons: <br /> <br /> <I>An old castle, <br /> Children quarreling, <br /> An ox resisting the weight of its cart, <br /> The Great Gate of Kiev.</I> <br /> <br />Mussorgsky's notes sound and vanish <br />As ephemeral as life itself - <br />Passing into the ether only to live anew <br />With each successive performance. <br /> <br />Viktor lives! <br /> <br /><I>October, 2006</I><br /><br />Robert Charles Howard<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/pictures-at-an-exhibition/
