<I>Beethoven once said of the cantor of Leipzig <br />“Not a stream but an ocean.”</I> <br /> <br />Sebastian Bach wove sonic tapestries <br />and scoffed at notions of genius <br />“Anyone who pays the price can do it.” <br /> <br />Whether for Sunday’s choir or organ <br />or for a palace fete of state, <br />The fountains of his bounteous spring <br />embellished every age and station. <br /> <br />Yet he could crack a joke or two <br />in a cantata to coffee’s pleasures - <br />sipping from a sturdy cup <br />of nature's matchless brew. <br /> <br />Flutists, fiddlers, singers, organists, <br />children and masters alike, <br />have netted hearty sustenance <br />from the seas of his boundless vision. <br /> <br />But modesty forbade him boast <br />the importance of his station - <br />affixing to his noblest works, <br />a trio of humblest words, <br /> <br /><I>“Soli Deo Gloria.” <br /> <br />December, 2007</I><br /><br />Robert Charles Howard<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/johann-sebastian-bach/