Alice Corbin. Music. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22.

Music

By Alice Corbin

THE OLD songs

Die.

Yes, the old songs die.

Cold lips that sang them,

Cold lips that sang them—

The old songs die,

And the lips that sang them

Are only a pinch of dust.

I saw in Pamplona

In a musty museum—

I saw in Pamplona

In a buff-colored museum—

I saw in Pamplona

A memorial

Of the dead violinist;

I saw in Pamplona

A memorial

Of Pablo Sarasate.

Dust was inch-deep on the cases,

Dust on the stick-pins and satins,

Dust on the badges and orders,

On the wreath from the oak of Guernica!

The old songs

Die—

And the lips that sang them.

Wreaths, withered and dusty,

Cuff-buttons with royal insignia,

These, in a musty museum,

Are all that is left of Sarasate.