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Yet half the beast is the great god Pan,
To laugh, as he sits by the river,
Making a poet out of a man.
The true gods sigh for the cost and the pain—
For the reed that grows never more again
As a reed with the reeds of the river.

— Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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Music

More quotes by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850)

There Shakespeare, on whose forehead climb
The crowns o’ the world; oh, eyes sublime
With tears and laughter for all time!

Poems (1844)

If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love's sake only.

Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850)

Thou large-brained woman and large-hearted man.

Poems (1844)

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Sonnets from the Portuguese (1850)

All Elizabeth Barrett Browning quotes →

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The emphasis of study upon a particular aspect of music is in itself ideological because it contains implications about the music's value.

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Music is well said to be the speech of angels.

Thomas Carlyle Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1827)

Music has no subject beyond the combinations of notes we hear, for music speaks not only by means of sounds, it speaks nothing but sound.

Eduard Hanslick

Above the pitch, out of tune, and off the hinges.

François Rabelais Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Elizabeth Barrett Browning (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.