Left hand Quote by Dannie Abse
““Piano At 66 Sandringham Crescent an upright piano was being eased down a long flight of stairs by three men all wearing off-white overalls. Backward, staccato, two stepped descending one stair at a time till the taller of the two men began to collapse in slow slow slow motion and the piano leapt to the hallway's rising floor crashing its memories of music: simple tunes such as 3 Blind Mice, as well as great meaningful sonatas of profundity and faraway, into a scattered anarchic jigsaw of free-loving volatile meaningless sounds fading till the stricken piano lost its memory entirely. After the ambulance arrived (too late) one removal man lit a cigarette and sensing the wide-awake stare of the householder tapped the grey ash, with great delicacy, into the cupped hollow of his left hand.””
About This Quote
Source Short Story: “The Piano Incident”, 1972
A chaotic accident transforms a cherished instrument into noise, symbolizing loss of memory and order.
In simple terms: Destruction erases history.
Key Takeaway
Preserve what matters.
Themes
loss
memory
chaos
Mood
melancholic
surreal
Type
literary
descriptive
When to use this quote
- home renovation
- emergency response
- grief processing
Key Concepts
impermanence
artistic decay
Questions to Reflect On
- What does the piano represent?
- How to cope with sudden loss?
A Different Perspective
May romanticize tragedy.
