e utterly at a loss to treat a poem which lacked
beauty and force. With but little command over absolute music, that flow
of melody which pours from some natures like a perennial spring, the
poetry of word is necessary to evoke poetry of tone.

Robert Franz, like Schumann, was embarrassed in his youth by the bitter
opposition of his family to his adoption of music, and, like the great
apostle of romantic music, his steady perseverance wore it out. He made
himself a severe student of the great masters, and rapidly acquired a
deep knowledge of the mysteries of harmony and counterpoint. There are
no songs with such intricate and difficult accompaniments, though always
vital to the lyrical motive, as those of Robert Franz. For a long time,
even after he felt himself fully equipped, Franz refrained from artistic
production, waiting till the processes of fermenting and clarifying
should end, in the mean while promising he would yet have a word to say
for himself.

With him, as with many other men of genius, the blow which broke the
seal of inspiration was an affair of the heart. He loved a beautiful and
accomplished woman, but loved unfortunately. The catastrophe ripened him
into artistic maturity, and the very first effort of his lyric power was
marked by surprising symmetry and fullness of power. He wrote to give
overflow to his deep feelings, and the song came from his heart of
hearts. Robert Schumann, the generous critic, gave this first work an
enthusiastic welcome, and the young composer leaped into reputation at a
bound. Of the four hundred or more songs written by Robert Franz, there
are perhaps fifty which rank as masterpieces. His life has passed
devoid of incident, though rich in spiritual insight and passion, as
his _Lieder_ unmistakably show. Though the instrumental setting of this
composer's songs is so elaborate and beautiful oftentimes, we frequently
find him at his best in treating words full of the simplicity and
_naivete_ of the old _Volkslied_. Many of his songs are set to the poems
of Robert Burns, one of the few British poets who have been able to give
their works the subtile singing quality which comes not merely of the
rhythm but of the feeling of the verse. Heine also furnished him with
the themes of many of his finest songs, for this poet has been an
inexhaustible treasure-trove to the modern lyric composer. One of the
most striking features of Franz as a composer is found in the delicate
light and