Classic Poem

'T IS said the music of the Thracian bard
Had power to make the savage creatures tame;
Streams ceased to flow—birds heard him—and they came—
And even rocks were moved, though dull and hard.
Ay, and the trees by that sweet symphony
Were brought to crown him with their pleasant shade.
'Tis a kind fable by the pocts made,
For nothing senseless thus inspired could be:
Yet did this Orpheus by his gentle phrase,
Soften and soothe the world's primeval race;
Won them from savage life to milder ways,
And taught them justice, dignity, and grace;
Made each unite him with his fellow men,
And changed the savage to the citizen.

'T IS said the music of the Thracian bard
Had power to make the savage creatures tame;
Streams ceased to flow—birds heard him—and they came—
And even rocks were moved, though dull and hard.
Ay, and the trees by that sweet symphony
Were brought to crown him with their pleasant shade.
'Tis a kind fable by the pocts made,
For nothing senseless thus inspired could be:
Yet did this Orpheus by his gentle phrase,
Soften and soothe the world's primeval race;
Won them from savage life to milder ways,
And taught them justice, dignity, and grace;
Made each unite him with his fellow men,
And changed the savage to the citizen.