Happy Harpist Poem by gershon hepner

With notes that never were too flat or sharp,
Beaumarchais instructed on the harp
two daughters of the monarch, Louis Quinze,
regarding them no more as also-rans
because he had a lot more fish to fry.
He tried to place his mistress as a spy
in the bed of Charles III, as well
as finding slaves from Africa to sell,
and guns for Washington before the French
supported him. Olympe de Gouges, a wench
whose sequel to “The Barber of Seville”
found that he was prepared to lie to kill
this play, alleging she’s had incest with
her son, anticipating the foul myth
they later told of Marie Antoinette.
Since he wrote well, perhaps we should forget
his negatives. Both Mozart and Rossini,
ignored the fact that he had been a meany,
transforming what he wrote to most sublime
music, which is why I wrote this rhyme.
Besides this, I think that’s it’s wrong to carp
about a person if he plays the harp.

© 2009 Gershon Hepner 8/20/09

On KUSC this morning Alan Chapman spoke about Beamarchais’s interesting life, including the fact that he taught the harp to princesses and sold guns to George Washington.

8/20/09