He came seeking solace to Heiligenstadt
and walked alone by its crystal stream
welcomed by songs the nightingale taught.
The cheerful waters made Vienna seem
a distant, cool and forbidding stage
where few could embrace a pastoral dream.
He dotted his sketchbook on every page
with earthen tones born of peasant heart -
(though fare rich enough for any age) .
Then poured from the stream the fiddle part
as winds sang impressions of birds in the dell -
all choired together by the master's art.
At Heiligenstadt Beethoven listened well
and envisioned his golden 'Pastorale.'