A Poetic Reverie Inspired By Music, Part Three

Symphony No.8 by Anton Bruckner IV. Finale. Feierlich, nicht schnell The Journey Continues Toward the end of every journey, there is a hastening. We don't plan it, or even think about it. But in our minds we are already standing in the place of achievement, inwardly crowned with a laurel wreath, and beginning to unfold the long parchment of a new identity. Or of an old identity renewed, glistening in raw light of the end. Do you remember the joy of Tobias when he rushed down the final lane of his journey, knowing he could restore his father's sight when they were together? And Tobit exclaiming when he saw his son, 'Oh, my son, you are the light of my life! ' And we can only imagine how Chaucer's pilgrims hastened down the road into Canterbury, with a carillon of bells announcing their success. We sense the season's changes include an atmosphere we have never felt, or we are puzzled by birds arrayed in strange feathers, singing an alien song, or we stand before a vast horizon that fills our eyes with a fear of distance. Have we really come home, or have we rushed into a new place we only thought was home, deceived by time and space, as we approached it? We know the performance is over. The finale was glorious, with eighty musicians playing the last measures fortissimo. We watch the conductor close his score, drop his baton and turn to the audience, standing in ovation. Perhaps the ghost of Bruckner hovers nearby, well-pleased by belated success. But all this is metaphor. There is a real place and a genuine moment we must find. We must, because it is our birthright and our mission... I can do no more: I am only a teller of tales, a writer of poems, perhaps only a dreamer of reality, always half-asleep, with inspiration revealing to me only small epiphanies. And you no doubt are anxious for some ultimate, final wisdom... There are only two of us left on this wide stage in this vast hall. Let us look into each other's eyes and find a trace of that knowledge the journey and the music revealed, and be confident that much knowledge yields sufficient grace for our lives to be blessed and us to render blessings to others.