quote · Legacy record
No rare creative inspirations throng My quiet spirit, silent, sad and lone; No Sapphic flame hath on its altar shone; No music to my nature doth belong. Thou art the sunlight, I am Memnon's stone, Thou art the zephyr, I give back its song; The harp Æolian can do no wrong To the soft airs which wake an answering tone: Upon my soul, Oh, then breathe tenderly; Subdue the discord, still the jarring strain; So may the harp-strings yield but melody. If notes discordant give thy keen ear pain, Set the fine chords again to harmony; Let but sweet echoes of thyself remain.
No rare creative inspirations throng My quiet spirit, silent, sad and lone; No Sapphic flame hath on its altar shone; No music to my nature doth belong. Thou art the sunlight, I am Memnon's stone, Thou art the zephyr, I give back its song; The harp Æolian can do no wrong To the soft airs which wake an answering tone: Upon my soul, Oh, then breathe tenderly; Subdue the discord, still the jarring strain; So may the harp-strings yield but melody. If notes discordant give thy keen ear pain, Set the fine chords again to harmony; Let but sweet echoes of thyself remain.
In print by 1911 AD · modern
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Ada Foster Murray
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1911 AD · modern
In print by 1911: recorded in The Optimist’s Good Morning (1911). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- The Optimist’s Good Morning (1911) (1911 AD)
Complete signed selection 281; printed byline: Ada Foster Murray; Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911; printed copyright 1907
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.