MOZART AND WAGNER
Th' old master's music steals upon the sense
With all-pervading and persuading power:
We listen ever with delight intense,
And drink it in as drinks the dew the flower:
The hours go by and yet we sit entranced,
And rise at last unwearied and unsated,
Our joy in life rekindled or enhanced,
In spirit and in senses recreated.
With all-pervading and persuading power:
We listen ever with delight intense,
And drink it in as drinks the dew the flower:
The hours go by and yet we sit entranced,
And rise at last unwearied and unsated,
Our joy in life rekindled or enhanced,
In spirit and in senses recreated.
But Wagner like a rushing whirlwind storms us,
And like a despot fealty doth demand,—
Perchance to faithful subjects he transforms us—
Yet some so rude a summons will withstand:
And though we own his genius is vast,
Yet he exhausts and wearies us at last.
And like a despot fealty doth demand,—
Perchance to faithful subjects he transforms us—
Yet some so rude a summons will withstand:
And though we own his genius is vast,
Yet he exhausts and wearies us at last.
GOUNOD'S "FAUST"
A magic greater than thou ownest none
Can boast when amorous passion is the theme,
And here thy genius reaches its supreme
Expression, scarce by Mozart's self outdone.
A tribute grand to Love's omnipotence,
Thy music floats so buoyantly along
It seems th' embodied heart and soul of song,
Pulsing with passion's fervid eloquence.
Unfailing and unfaltering, thy store
Of melody wells forth as from a spring
Exhaustless, whose bright waters soar and sing,
And all around their sparkling jewels pour.
Gounod! immortal needs must be thy strains
While Love in men's and maidens' hearts remains.
Can boast when amorous passion is the theme,
And here thy genius reaches its supreme
Expression, scarce by Mozart's self outdone.
A tribute grand to Love's omnipotence,
Thy music floats so buoyantly along
It seems th' embodied heart and soul of song,
Pulsing with passion's fervid eloquence.
Unfailing and unfaltering, thy store
Of melody wells forth as from a spring
Exhaustless, whose bright waters soar and sing,
And all around their sparkling jewels pour.
Gounod! immortal needs must be thy strains
While Love in men's and maidens' hearts remains.
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