Arts & Sciences

Music (O harmony! thou tenderest nurse of pain)

by William Lisle Bowles 1762–1850

From Sonnets

Arts & Sciences

O harmony! thou tenderest nurse of pain,
If that thy note's sweet magic e'er can heal
Griefs which the patient spirit oft may feel,
Oh! let me listen to thy songs again;
Till memory her fairest tints shall bring;
Hope wake with brighter eye, and listening seem
With smiles to think on some delightful dream,
That waved o'er the charmed sense its gladsome wing!
For when thou leadest all thy soothing strains
More smooth along, the silent passions meet
In one suspended transport, sad and sweet;
And nought but sorrow's softest touch remains;
That, when the transitory charm is o'er,
Just wakes a tear, and then is felt no more.

MLA

Bowles, William Lisle. “Music (O harmony! thou tenderest nurse of pain).” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/bowles/27/.

Chicago

Bowles, William Lisle. “Music (O harmony! thou tenderest nurse of pain).” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/bowles/27/.

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