Story of the Flute
Then from the flute untouched by hands,
There came a low, harmonious breath:
For such as he there is no death,
His life the eternal life commands."
There came a low, harmonious breath:
For such as he there is no death,
His life the eternal life commands."
Of a similar character is Bayard Taylor's Greeting to Sidney Lanier—
"With glowing heart I do salute thee!
To whom the cradle gave the flute!
And thou dost celebrate its song in trills,
Making the morning and the evening tints
To blend in music rare as ether.
And when thou makest the flute to weep,
Thou awaken'st the sweetest call that's heard.
To whom the cradle gave the flute!
And thou dost celebrate its song in trills,
Making the morning and the evening tints
To blend in music rare as ether.
And when thou makest the flute to weep,
Thou awaken'st the sweetest call that's heard.
With thy magic wand, the flute,
Thou breathest life into the throbbing of a trill,
(Pygmalion-like, unto the marble).
And when thou flutest soft and low,
'Tis like the sea the shore caressing;
And so the roses bend them o'er
From the blooming garden to the sea of song.
Thou breathest life into the throbbing of a trill,
(Pygmalion-like, unto the marble).
And when thou flutest soft and low,
'Tis like the sea the shore caressing;
And so the roses bend them o'er
From the blooming garden to the sea of song.
Song is the spirit of thy flute,
Which, bursting forth in rippling trills,
Lulls the senses into dreams—
Again, as full of life as mystic rose,
And then like Etna's fiery stream—
It wooes in melody the Realm of Beauty
And wakes and mells the heart to tears."
Which, bursting forth in rippling trills,
Lulls the senses into dreams—
Again, as full of life as mystic rose,
And then like Etna's fiery stream—
It wooes in melody the Realm of Beauty
And wakes and mells the heart to tears."
Sidney Lanier (1842-81) was one of the most brilliant flautists of America, and also a poet of no mean rank—he has been termed "an American Rossetti." He
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