| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| The Master-Chord |
| | | William Caldwell Roscoe (1823–59) |
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| LIKE a musician that with flying finger | |
| Startles the voice of some new instrument, | |
| And, though he know that in one string are blent | |
| All its extremes of sound, yet still doth linger | |
| Among the lighter threads, fearing to start | 5 |
| The deep soul of that one melodious wire, | |
| Lest it, unanswering, dash his high desire, | |
| And spoil the hopes of his expectant heart; | |
| Thus, with my mistress oft conversing, I | |
| Stir every lighter theme with careless voice, | 10 |
| Gathering sweet music and celestial joys | |
| From the harmonious soul o’er which I fly; | |
| Yet o’er the one deep master-chord I hover, | |
| And dare not stoop, fearing to tell—I love her. | |
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