University of Virginia Library

[Faith points to viewless wonders all inherit]

Faith points to viewless wonders all inherit,
Expressing in a prayer that Harmony
Felt in the soul which hath recourse on high
Of the Universal with the Human Spirit.
This also through the gates of ear and eye
Reveals itself in beauty, so intense
That the glad Spirit, using modes of sense,
Brings forth our angel-mortal, Poesie.
Form satisfies, establishing the past.
Colour enlivens, makes the present keen.
Music breeds longings, wooing bodiless.
By habitude of Language, things are seen,
And Music's cousin can to ear express
The musical of Life, orb'd in sweet Verse at last.

[Doth Music tickle ear, and that's the whole?]

Doth Music tickle ear, and that's the whole?
—It speaks a heavenly language to the soul.

[Out of this hard and thin life]

Out of this hard and thin life
Through Music's gate I peep
Into a life within life,
Purer and more deep.

[How should Oratory give]

How should Oratory give
Contentment to the higher mind,
Being an art correlative
To the dulness of mankind?

[With pen and with pencil we're learning to say]

With pen and with pencil we're learning to say
Nothing, more cleverly every day.

[Painters, Composers, can make use no doubt]

Painters, Composers, can make use no doubt
Of mind,—but they do pretty well without.

[How rotten the Art is that works for display!]

How rotten the Art is that works for display!
Yet this mode of doing things carries the day.

[Artist, your business is with surface: true.]

Artist, your business is with surface: true.
But slicing off the surface will not do.
No mask or hollow elle-maid give us, you,
But life, with heart and brain within it too.