Elegy

Author: Ye Zhaoyan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-10-01
Features: "Only for you can I grow thin and weary, my belt gradually loosens, yet I never regret it. Truly, I long for a body as strong as a wild ox to better write." However, I like this series of elegies I have written. Burgess, a British writer, composed his "Symphony of Napoleon" in the form of Beethoven's Third Symphony. The rhythm of the novel matches the symphony, with the same tempo and tone, even the structure of several pages per section mirroring the relationship between several measures per phrase in the music. Similarly, the Cuban writer Cabell referred to Beethoven's Third Symphony in his novella "The Pursuit." The content of the novel changes with the musical themes, shifting from death to victory, then from joy back to death. I dare not say that the two outstanding writers above have fully achieved their literary goals. Perhaps the good intentions of writers are destined to remain unfulfilled forever, yet such intentions are undeniably significant. I have no expertise in music, yet I have learned a term called a quartet. Ignorance often breeds boldness. Without arrogance or pretension, I present four elegies to the readers. Whether they can be considered a quartet seems quite unimportant.