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by Amy Lowell (1874 - 1925)

'Tis you that are the music, not your...
Language: English 
'Tis you that are the music, not your song.
 The song is but a door which, opening wide,
 Lets forth the pent-up melody inside,
Your spirit's harmony, which clear and strong
Sings but of you. Throughout your whole life long
 Your songs, your thoughts, your doings, each divide
 This perfect beauty; waves within a tide,
Or single notes amid a glorious throng.
 The song of earth has many different chords;
Ocean has many moods and many tones
 Yet always ocean. In the damp Spring woods
The painted trillium smiles, while crisp pine cones
 Autumn alone can ripen. So is this
 One music with a thousand cadences.

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   J. Brandon 

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Amy Lowell (1874 - 1925), "Listening" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

  • by Jenni Brandon (b. 1977), "This Perfect Beauty", copyright © 2015 [ ssa chorus, flute and piano ], Santa Barbara Music Publishing
        Publisher: Santa Barbara Music Publishing [external link]  [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Laura Farnell (b. 1975), "Let Your Life Sing", copyright © 2019 [ ssa chorus and piano ], JEHMS
        Publisher: Alliance Music Publication [external link]  [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2026-08-27
Line count: 14
Word count: 106

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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