"The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not mov’d with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils;
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus:
Let no such man be trusted:"
In Twelfth Night, the Duke uses music with another psychological purpose:
"If music be the food of love, play on, Give me excess of it; that surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die."
The same idea is expressed by Cleopatra,
"Give me some music, music moody food
Of us that trade in love."
It is invoked by Queen Catherine to dispel sadness:
"Take thy lute, wench; my soul grows sad with troubles:
Sing and disperse them if thou canst."
In some sad moods, however, it cannot be endured, as when in deep misery Richard II. exclaims,
"This music mads me, let it sound no more;
For though it have help'd mad men to their wits,
In me it seems, it will make wise men mad."
But enough of this: it would be wearisome to quote all Shakespeare's references to this most refined of sensual pleasures, of which it cannot be doubted that he was passionately fond. Collins' Ode, in which music is made to express in turn the voice of all the passions, does not indicate so sensitive an ear, and so true an appreciation of its influence on the mind, as that which pervades the dramas of Shakespeare.
