Because arias are suspension bridges—
We cross the spandrels fretted and prodigious,
Confident in the flight of the soprano.
And over and over, through thoroughfares’ thrombotic
Twisting of the Tacoma Narrows’ harmonics,
Clutching for life at pylons and at tonics,
One rides the curve that bourdons undergird.
O sing, Trapezium, slinging with abandon
The mezzo shot largando out of the cannon
And other acrobats whose arcs we’ve heard.
NOTES for Students of English
Recitativo – (Pronounced re-si-ta-TEE-vo or re-chee-ta-TEE-vo) A style of singing used in opera that closely resembles speech.
Verrazano – The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, a suspension bridge that spans New York Harbor between Brooklyn and Staten Island, completed in 1964.
Spandrel – In architecture, the space between the right or left exterior curve (called the extrados) of an arch and the rectangular framework surrounding it.
Fretted – Having frets (parallel strips of metal, wood, or other material) at regular intervals along the fingerboard; used to describe a stringed instrument such as a guitar or lute.
Thrombotic – Having to do with the formation of a blood clot within a blood vessel.
Tacoma Narrows – The original Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge in Washington State famously collapsed in November 1940 due to torsional oscillations caused by a phenomenon called aeroelastic flutter in which wind forces are strongly linked interactively to structural motion. The failure of the bridge has frequently been attributed less accurately to resonance.
Tonic – The keynote, the first and most important note in any major or minor scale, dominating both melody and harmony.
Bourdon – In music, a bass note that is held while the upper parts move on to other notes; a drone.
Trapezium – A quadrilateral having no two sides parallel; in British usage, a trapezoid: a quadrilateral having only two sides parallel. Here possibly the quadrilateral described by the suspension cable at the top, two vertical hangers at the sides, and the bridge deck at the bottom; or, considering that the towers of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge are further apart at their tops than at their bases (by 1 5/8 inches) to compensate for the earth’s curvature, a quadrilateral formed by a line between two non-parallel bridge towers, two towers themselves, and a deck. The word suggests the circus acrobat’s “trapeze” which comes from the same Greek root, trapezion, meaning a little table.
Mezzo – Short for mezzo-soprano.
Largando – (Pronounced lar-GAN-do) Italian; in music, becoming gradually slower and more stately, usually getting louder.