Shane Koyczan's Poem 'Beethoven'

“Beethoven” by Shane Koyczan is a descriptive poem that uses vivid imagery to explore the theme of love. Beethoven was unable to find love at home, and suffered from severe physical and emotional abuse. Therefore, he found it very difficult to connect with others and in a way, isolated himself. In addition, he felt as if he was not loved at home and that forced him to find love elsewhere. He found that love in music. It was that love of music that helped guide him through his adolescence and onto the path to success. Unfortunately, this inability to bond with other people resulted in him being rejected and outcast from the group and consequently, considered crazy. As a kid, Beethoven grew up in a household in which even his best “was not good enough”. He was constantly getting beaten down by his father who had numerous unrealistic expectations that he was just not able to …show more content…
He was continuously laughed at and bullied because of his unusual personality and madness. Koyczan demonstrates that this bullying did have a bit of an effect on Beethoven because all he ever heard was the negative, hurtful comments directed towards him and never the “audience’s clapping” or “the people loving him”. Luckily, as soon as he began to play, all the mocking stopped. His music bewildered both musicians and composers alike who’s jaws dropped as they “tr[ied] to calculate / the distance between madness and genius”. It was then, as he continued to “transform[] emotion into music” that everyone realized not only was Beethoven an extraordinary musician but he was also a human expressing himself through the music. His personality flowing, exploding with every note; as if “love and / hate [were] danc[ing] together”. He was a part of the music, the music a part of him and all anyone ever had to do “to know the man” was