MUSIC AND POETRY
I
Two stars there are by which my course I steer—
Two stars which fadeless ever must remain,
Which, while I follow, save me from all fear
Of foundering on life's tempestuous main.
To me they are the source of all delight,
They comfort me when all around is dark,
My soul inspiring with their influence bright,
As air and sun inspire the mounting lark:
Two stars there are by which my course I steer—
Two stars which fadeless ever must remain,
Which, while I follow, save me from all fear
Of foundering on life's tempestuous main.
To me they are the source of all delight,
They comfort me when all around is dark,
My soul inspiring with their influence bright,
As air and sun inspire the mounting lark:
Music and poetry! brightest-shining pair
That shed their beams on thankless humankind,
For ever youthful, fresh, and debonnair,
Best solacers and healers of the mind:
Benignant powers, all other powers above,
Or only rivalled by divinest Love!
That shed their beams on thankless humankind,
For ever youthful, fresh, and debonnair,
Best solacers and healers of the mind:
Benignant powers, all other powers above,
Or only rivalled by divinest Love!
II
Whene'er to words of kindness or of love
The tongue is tuned music is in our speech,
And then we rise our baser selves above,
And the blest Eden of our visions reach.
Perchance in planets happier than ours
All speech is music, and all music speech,
And there no discords vex the golden hours,
Nor curse nor shriek the destinies impeach:
Life there to blithest symphonies is set,
No evil passions there its concords stain,
No dashing elements are there to fret,
No force compels and no conventions chain:
No need of heaven is there, no fear of hell,—
Such wondrous power in harmony doth dwell.
Whene'er to words of kindness or of love
The tongue is tuned music is in our speech,
And then we rise our baser selves above,
And the blest Eden of our visions reach.
Perchance in planets happier than ours
All speech is music, and all music speech,
And there no discords vex the golden hours,
Nor curse nor shriek the destinies impeach:
Life there to blithest symphonies is set,
No evil passions there its concords stain,
No dashing elements are there to fret,
No force compels and no conventions chain:
No need of heaven is there, no fear of hell,—
Such wondrous power in harmony doth dwell.