I will fly in the greatness of God as the marsh-hen flies,_x000D_ _x000D_ In the freedom that fills all the space 'twixt the marsh and the skies.
Sidney LanierRead
When I hear music, it seems to me that all the sins of my life pass slowly by me with veiled faces, lay their hands on my head, and say softly, "My child."
Interpretation
What this quote means
Music evokes deep emotions and reflections on past mistakes, offering a sense of connection and forgiveness.
Sidney Lanier's quote expresses the profound impact that music has on our emotions and memories. He suggests that when he listens to music, it brings forth the memories of his past sins, which appear to him in a softened, almost nurturing manner. The music acts as a medium that allows for a reflective reconciliation with his past, fundamentally touching on themes of guilt, acceptance, and the healing power of art.
Themes
MusicEmotionsReflectionForgivenessArt
In practice
Example use cases
During a reflective moment at a gathering, one might share this quote to highlight the impact of music on human experience.
More from Sidney Lanier
All quotes →Let my name perish, -- the poetry is good poetry and the music is good music,_x000D_ and beauty dieth not, and the heart that needs it will find it.
Sidney LanierRead
Music is love searching for a word.
Sidney LanierRead
Chime out, thou little song of Spring,_x000D_ _x000D_ Float in the blue skies ravishing._x000D_ _x000D_ Thy song-of-life a joy doth bring_x000D_ _x000D_ That's sweet, albeit fleeting._x000D_ _x000D_ Float on the Spring-winds e'en to my home:_x000D_ _x000D_ And when thou to a rose shalt come_x000D_ _x000D_ That hath begun to show her bloom,_x000D_ _x000D_ Say, I send her greeting!
Sidney LanierRead
Music is love in search of a word.
Sidney LanierRead
As the woodpecker taps in a spiral quest_x000D_ _x000D_ From the root to the top of the tree,_x000D_ _x000D_ Then flies to another tree,_x000D_ _x000D_ So have I bored into life to find what lay therein,_x000D_ _x000D_ And now it is time to die,_x000D_ _x000D_ And I will fly to another tree.
Sidney LanierRead
Similar quotes
Jazz is the type of music that can absorb so many things and still be jazz.
Sonny RollinsRead
I dedicate this novel to Gala, who was constantly by my side while I was writing it, who was the good fairy of my equilibrium, who banished the salamanders of my doubts and strengthened the lions of certainties.
Salvador DaliRead
Writers write to influence their readers, their preachers, their auditors, but always, at bottom, to be more themselves.
Aldous HuxleyRead
The role of the artist is to not look away.
Akira KurosawaRead
The second, and I think this is the much more overt and I think it is the main cause, I have been increasingly demonstrating or trying to demonstrate that every possible stance a critic, a scholar, a teacher can take towards a poem is itself inevitably and necessarily poetic.
Harold BloomRead
I want to be able to follow the example of those extraordinary British actresses who move effortlessly from film to TV to theatre roles.
Cate BlanchettRead