FRENCH COMPOSER MAGNARD
(1865-1914)

Hero, patriot
Alberic Magnard
writer of opera
and composer of sonatas
let the notes of a voice
flow over the soul of Paris
lover of words, quotes, sounds
your music as a mystic
and gorgeous chorus
resounds in Guercoeur,
the critics concur he is
the French Bruckner
with his leitmotifs found
in a fleur de lis
of Richard Wagner
when the enemy came
to burn down your residence
in the world war
you fought back
for nothing can rob you
of your lyrical eminence
from gun toting hacks.