Ode to Music
QUEEN of every moving measure,
Sweetest source of purest
pleasure,
Music; why thy
powers employ
Only for the sons of joy?
Only for the
smiling guests
At natal or at
nuptial feasts?
Rather thy lenient numbers pour
On those whom
secret griefs devour;
Bid be still the throbbing
hearts
Of those, whom
death, or absence parts,
And, with some
softly whisper'd air,
Smooth the
brow of dumb
despair.
Joseph Warton (1722 - 1800)
English poet and scholar; editor of Pope's works; brother of Thomas Warton