Page:May-day and other pieces, Emerson, 1867.djvu/41

Rh And billows on the long beach break,

The artful Air doth separate

Note by note all sounds that grate,

Smothering in her ample breast

All but godlike words,

Reporting to the happy ear

Only purified accords.

Strangely wrought from barking waves,

Soft music daunts the Indian braves,—

Convent-chanting which the child

Hears pealing from the panther's cave

And the impenetrable wild.

One musician is sure,

His wisdom will not fail,

He has not tasted wine impure,

Nor bent to passion frail.

Age cannot cloud his memory,

Nor grief untune his voice,