These verses explore the psychology of extreme emotions. Anyone who loves The Phantom of the Opera will understand them: indeed anyone at all will understand them, because they are about all of us. Here is a stocking-filler with a difference, and not just for the millions of fans of Phantom.

The Phantom of the Opera is essentially a story about a man in emotional agony. Terribly disfigured and reclusive, he falls in love with a young singer through whom he lives out his dreams of intimacy and fame. One of the reasons why the musical has proved so popular is undoubtedly that many of those who experience it identify to some extent with the suffering of the eponymous hero – with his emotional turmoil, loneliness and rage over thwarted hopes. From such tragedy springs human compassion. As Shelley put it, 'Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought'.