At Sunday night’s Tony Awards, during his acceptance speech for Best Score of a Musical, Lin-Manuel Miranda read the sonnet below for his wife, the Orlando shooting victims, and theater as a haven of tolerance. Here is the text:
“My wife’s the reason anything gets done
She nudges me towards promise by degrees
She is a perfect symphony of one
Our son is her most beautiful reprise.
We chase the melodies that seem to find us until they’re finished songs and start to play
When senseless acts of tragedy remind us that nothing here is promised, not one day.
This show is proof that history remembers
We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger
We rise and fall and light from dying embers remembrance that hope and love last forever.
Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside
I sing Vanessa’s symphony. Eliza tells her story. Fill the world with music, love and pride.”