I began writing this on the eve of a birth, followed the next day
by a death, both of which occurred in the middle of the 19th
century. Given the title of this little
piece it’s not too difficult to discern that I mean Oscar Wilde, born October
16, 1854, and Frédéric Chopin, died October 17, 1849. Both of these ghosts, friends as I call them,
haunt me almost every day of my life—one with brilliant words, the other with
melancholy music.
