gospel of glory, turns to a squabble about a broken soup-plate, or a
row about an ink-mark on one's new shirt. That composer is a happy man
who never again, in this earthly life, sees Her who, with mystic power,
kindled the music within him. He may rage, and mourn, poor boy! when
his beautiful enchantress has left him; but she has been transformed to
everlasting Music, glorious and divine, which lives on in eternal
beauty and youth; and out of it are born the melodies which are Her
only, and Her again and again. What is she but his highest ideal,
reflected from him on to herself?

"'"Curious, but pretty plausible," said Edward, as the friends,
arm-in-arm, walked out of the Sala Tarone into the street.'"

It was admitted that, if Theodore's story might not satisfy all the
necessary conditions, it came near enough to be passed as
"Serapiontic." Ottmar said, "Your story, dear Theodore, has this
effect, that it brings vividly to mind all your devoted labours at
music. Each of us wished to draw you into a different province of it.
While Lothair thought your instrumental writings your best, I thought
your _forte_ was comic opera. Cyprian wanted you to do 'things
unattempted yet,' by putting music to (what he will now admit were)
poems completely beyond all recognised forms and rules; and you
yourself cared only for the serious ecclesiastical style. Well, as
things stand at present, the _opera tragica_ may probably be
considered, the highest goal at which a composer can aim, and I can't
understand why you haven't set to work at one long ago; you would
surely have turned out something very superior in that line."

"And whose fault is it that I have not?" said Theodore, "but your own,
and Cyprian's, and Lothair's? Could I ever succeed in inducing either
of you to write me a libretto, with all my entreaties?"

"Marvellous fellow!" said Cyprian, "haven't I argued for hours and days
with you about opera-texts? Haven't you rejected the finest ideas, on
the ground that they were not adapted for music? Didn't you insist, at
last, like an extraordinary fellow as you are, that I should regularly
set to work to study music, so as to be able to understand, and comply
with your requirements? So that I should have had to say good-bye to
all idea of writing poetry, seeing that, like all professional writers,
Kapellmeisters, and music-directors, you cleave to the established
musical forms, and won't abandon them by so much as a hair's br