By Music, minds an equal temper know

By Music, minds an equal temper know,
  Nor swell too high, nor sink too low.
  If in the breast tumultuous joys arise,
  Music her soft, assuasive voice applies;
    Or, when the soul is press'd with cares,
    Exalts her in enlivening airs.
  Warriors she fires with animated sounds;
  Pours balm into the bleeding lover's wounds;
      Melancholy lifts her head,
      Morpheus rouses from his bed,
      Sloth unfolds her arms and wakes,
      Listening Envy drops her snakes;
  Intestine war no more our passions wage,
  And giddy factions hear away their rage.

About the headline (FAQ)

Authorship

• by Alexander Pope (1688 - 1744), no title, appears in Ode on St. Cecilia's Day, no. 2, first published 1708 [ author's text checked 1 time]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "By music", 1889 [baritone and orchestra], from Ode to St. Cecelia's Day, no. 3. [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

Text added to the website: 2009-09-04.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:03:21
Line count: 14
Word count: 88

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