...playing on homemade tapes recorded from library CDs. Opera in his-now-our house was so ubiquitous as to go unremarked. I was curious, then, when I found Frank standing still in the middle of a room. Not knowing what had halted him, and intrigued by the inward, almost beatific look on his face--was he thinking, perhaps, of me?--I asked, only to be fixed with an incredulous stare. "I'm not thinking," he said, "I'm listening."

He was outside of ordinary time in those moments, absorbed in the music's time, in tune, and, if you will, in love with the music. A similar absorption sometimes overtakes me in museums and churches, in front of certain paintings and sculptures. I have been moved to tears; I have felt slammed against a wall; I have been unable to wipe that beatific smile from my face. What rises up from within is a strange tingling, a state of contained exultation, so profound I wonder that I don't glow. If someone asked me what I was thinking, I might say, "Not thinking; looking."

IN THE last few weeks I have been looking at William Blake's 21 engravings for the Book of Job, part of a collection at...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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