Scan 546
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1884
25 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 450. See the scan on archive.org.
1just going to commence, and looking exactly as I have described him.
3 'His hand
4 Loading the air with dumb expectancy
5 Suspended, ere it fell, a nation's breath.
6 He smote; and clinging to the serious chords
7 With godlike ravishment, drew forth a breath
8 So deep, so strong, so fervid, thick with love—
9 Blissful, yet laden as with twenty prayers,
10 That Juno yearned with no diviner soul,
11 To the first burthen of the lips of Jove.
12 Th' exceeding mystery of the loveliness
13 Sadden'd delight; and with his mournful look
14 Dreary and gaunt, hanging his pallid face
15 'Twixt his dark flowing locks, he almost seemed
16 Too feeble, or, to melancholy eyes,
17 One that has parted with his soul for pride,
18 And in the sable secret lived forlorn.'
20"To show the depth and identicalness of the impression which he made upon everybody, foreign or native, an Italian who stood near me said to himself, after a sigh, 'O Dio!' and this had not been said long when another person, in the same manner uttered, 'O Christ!' Musicians pressed forward from behind the scenes to get as close to him as possible; and they could not sleep at night for thinking of him."—Timbs's Anecdote Biography.
22THACKERAY ON ORCHESTRAL MUSIC.
24"I wish I were a poet; you should have a description of all this in verse, and welcome. But if I were a musician! Let us see what we should do
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