Anonymous asked: could you explain the phrase “music is love in search of a word”? I don’t get it.

It is a quote taken from the poem “The Symphony” by Sidney Lanier, who was an American poet and musician during the latter half of the 1800’s.

Here is the line in context:

And yet shall Love himself be heard,
Though long deferred, though long deferred:
O’er the modern waste a dove hath whirred:
Music is Love in search of a word.

“Music is Love in search of a word” means, to me, that Music is Love’s method of finding voice, finding a spoken (or sung) language to communicate, but failing because Love cannot be put into words. Love cannot ever be communicated adequately through any means we mere mortals may devise.

It is the great quest of thousands of writers and musicians to pen or strum the idea of Love so that others may understand what they feel. Lanier seems to believe the search for the right words will continue forever.

That is just my take on it. I’m sure there are many more!

Thank you for your question!

-C