Classic Poem

No paltry preference of school is thine,
Thy soul finds room for all called great and true.
Mozart and Gluck are perfect in thy view;
In thee no stale comparisons combine.

Weber, and Bach, and Donizetti shine;
The older styles are treasured with the new.
Verdi and Händel have from thee their due,
And all who hold the passion-spark divine.

Thy genius finds the jewels of their thought,
The mystic secrets of their deathless song,
And all the lessons that to them belong
Unto our willing ears thy wand has taught,
And in the future, as to-day, thy name,
Honest, eclectic, will go down to fame.