Read "The Musicians" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The strings of my heart were strung by Pleasure, / And I laughed, when the music fell on my ear, / For he and Mirth played a joyful measure, / And they played so loud that I could not hear / The wailing and moaning of souls a-weary -- / The strains of sorrow that floated around, / For my heart's notes rang loud and cheery, / And I heard no other sound.
Mirth and Pleasure, the music brothers, / Played louder and louder in joyful glee; / But sometimes a discord was heard by others -- / Though only the rhythm was heard by me. / Louder and louder, and faster and faster / The hands of the brothers played strain on strain, / When all of a sudden, a Mighty Master / Swept them aside; and Pain, / Pain, the musician, the soul-refiner, / Restrung the strings of my quivering heart, / And the air that he played was a plaintive minor, / So sad that the tear-drops were forced to start; / Each note was an echo of awful anguish, / As shrill as solemn, as sharp as slow, / And my soul for a season seemed to languish / And faint with its weight of woe.