“Why, Minstrel, these untuneful murmurings–
Dull, flagging notes that with each other jar?”
“Think, gentle Lady, of a Harp so far
From its own country, and forgive the strings.”
A simple answer! but even so forth springs,
From the Castalian fountain of the heart,
The Poetry of Life, and all that Art
Divine of words quickening insensate things.
From the submissive necks of guiltless men
Stretched on the block, the glittering axe recoils;
Sun, moon, and stars, all struggle in the toils
Of mortal sympathy; what wonder then
That the poor Harp distempered music yields
To its sad Lord, far from his native fields?