Scan 548
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1909
19 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 470. See the scan on archive.org.
1lofty triumph like a conqueror. The phrase of smiting the chord—
3"He smote; and clinging to the serious chords
4With godlike ravishment," &c.
6was no classical commonplace; nor, in respect to impression on the mind, was it exaggeration to say, that from a single chord he would fetch out—
8"The voice of quires, and weight
9Of the built organ."
11Paganini, the first time I saw and heard him, and the first time he struck a note, seemed literally to strike it—to give it a blow. The house was so crammed, that being among the squeezers in the standing-room at the side of the pit, I happened to catch the first glance of his face through the arm a-kimbo of a man who was perched up before me, which made a kind of frame for it; and there on the stage, in that frame, as through a perspective glass, were the face, bust, and the raised hand of the wonderful musician, with the instrument at his chin, just going to commence, and looking exactly as I have described him.
13"His hand
14Loading the air with dumb expectancy
15Suspended, ere it fell, a nation's breath.
16He smote; and clinging to the serious chords
17With godlike ravishment, drew forth a breath
18So deep, so strong, so fervid, thick with love—
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