The Score Poem by John Bannister Tabb

This is the chart that tells of one who went,
Like John, into the wilderness alone-
Into a land of Silence, all unknown
Till thither by the Muses he was sent.
And we upon his wanderings intent
Must mark his perilous footsteps, tone by tone,
Or else be lost in mazes overgrown
With Discord, in a place of banishment.
Alone he went; but from his solitude
Returning, lo, there followed him a train
Of Echoes in an innumerable brood-
By Fancy from their sylvan sleep beguiled,
But ne'er from wedded Harmonies atwain,
Henceforth to slumber in their native wild.