The soul of music slumbers in the shell

Till waked and kindled by the master's spell;

And feeling hearts, touch them but rightly, pour

A thousand melodies unheard before!

Samuel Rogers (1763-1855): Human Life.

The oracles are dumb,

No voice or hideous hum

Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving.

Apollo from his shrine

Can no more divine,

With hollow shriek the steep of Delphos leaving.

No nightly trance or breathed spell

Inspires the pale-eyed priest from the prophetic cell.

John Milton (1608-1674): Hymn on Christ's Nativity. Line 173.