"Boadicea" (1782).
Context: "Regions Caesar never knew
Thy posterity shall sway;
Where his eagles never flew,
None invincible as they."Such the bard's prophetic words, Pregnant with celestial fire, Bending as he swept the chords Of his sweet but awful lyre.
“As when in harp and song adept, a bard
Unlab'ring strains the chord to a new lyre.”
XXI. 406–407 (tr. William Cowper).
Odyssey (c. 725 BC)
Original
Ὡς ὅτ' ἀνὴρ φόρμιγγος ἐπιστάμενος καὶ ἀοιδῆς ῥηϊδίως ἐτάνυσσε νέῳ περὶ κόλλοπι χορδήν.
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Homér 217
Ancient Greek epic poet, author of the Iliad and the OdysseyRelated quotes
The Legend of Jubal (1869)
Context: New voices come to me where'er I roam,
My heart too widens with its widening home:
But song grows weaker, and the heart must break
For lack of voice, or fingers that can wake
The lyre's full answer; nay, its chords were all
Too few to meet the growing spirit's call.
The former songs seem little, yet no more
Can soul, hand, voice, with interchanging lore
Tell what the earth is saying unto me:
The secret is too great, I hear confusedly.
“Their heavenly harps a lower strain began, and in soft music mourn the fall of man.”
“Three chords and the truth — that’s what a country song is.”
Nelson clarified in his autobiography, It's A Long Story: My Life that it was an original phrase from songwriter Harlan Howard. An example of Nelson quoting the phrase: [A lot of country music is sad. I think most art comes out of poverty and hard times. It applies to music. Three chords and the truth — that’s what a country song is. There is a lot of heartache in the world., http://theboot.com/willie-nelson-parade-interview/?trackback=tsmclip, Willie Nelson Opens Up About Music, Marriages and Marijuana, Horne, Marianne, June 28, 2010, The Boot, Taste of Country, January 21, 2014]
Attributed
O Black and Unknown Bards, st. 1.
Fifty Years and Other Poems (1917)
Scottish Folklore and Opera (1992).
The Pilgrims of the Night.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)