"I've been thinking" Dingo said.

("That must have been quite a painful experience" muttered Ebenezer under his breath).

"Having already told everone about the book of poetry", (see http://www.publishingdirect.co.nz in case you've forgotten!) Dingo went on, ignoring Ebenezer's snide remark,  "why don't we bung one of the poems on our site as a tempting foretaste, so to speak. I reckon the one about Beethoven would be just the berries for all those music lovers if you ask me! - and think how pleased the Old Man will be with us. He may even give us a extra bone or two for supper. You never know!"

Well, hes got a point, so here goes -but if you don't like it, don't blame me - blame Dingo!

                               BEETHOVEN

“Even with all my afflictions, my spirit shall conquer”

         Beethoven: Diary entry: December, 1795

He strides the sunlit uplands vast,

A titanic figure of heroic cast,

Conversing with Gods, gigantic he towers,

Supreme among mortal and heavenly powers.

His life was a maëlstrom of tempest and storm;

Of deafness and suffering and yearnings forlorn,

Yet proudly defiant his all-conquering will,

Still valiantly fought till his great heart was still.

But though his years were anguished and dark

And shrouded in pain and conflict stark,

Yet ever within blazed the searing light,

Hot-forged into sounds of Olympian might.

“Seek not mere money nor empty applause,

Or the shameful honours of infamous wars:

Mans’ mission is not just to eat and sleep,

But to climb ever higher till he conquers the peaks”

Believing mens ends were both noble and free

To no earthly power ever bent he the knee;

Nor prince nor penury could his spirit confine:

But - “Awake, O men, ye are beings divine”