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Manual De Santa Maria.
The soft strings of a Spanish lute one day
You struck, and plaintive notes gushed forth like tears.
Ravished I listened, and I longed to play
The music to another people's ears.
You showed me all the cunning workmanship,
The stretching of the strings, the exquisite
Adjustment of the frets, the body's dip,
I took the lute and tried to copy it.
Well, here it is, re-fashioned and re-strung.
Play on it, ah, I fear those sweet, sad airs
Sound cracked and harsh now, better left unsung.
Well, fling the lute aside and take Becquer's! |
