September 5 - John Cage; Giacomo Meyerbeer (The Musical Birthday Series)

John Cage (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was one of the leading composers of the mid-twentieth century avant-garde in music.

Caged

An irascible fellow named Cage

Appeared on the Carnegie stage

With the book of I Ching,

Some dice and some string, 

And a few random notes on a page.

Giacomo Meyerbeer (5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was perhaps the most successful opera composer of the nineteenth century.  Even today he has admirers and occasional revivals.

A double dactyl is a biographically inspired humorous poem with very strict structural rules.  Here are links to two definitions for those who are curious.  The first from the Poetry Foundation is clearer but less accurate than the second, from Wikipedia.  Take your pick.  The classic statement is the book Jiggery-Pokery:  A Compendium of Double Dactyls by Anthony Hecht and John Hollander (New York, 1967).
 

Double Dactyl for G. M.: Life is Grand

Higgledy piggledy

Giacomo Meyerbeer,

Writing his operas,

Made them so grand

That they had symptoms of

Elephantiasis - 

Much too much drama for

Music so bland.

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