Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!
Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.
Why preyest thou thus upon the poet’s heart,
Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?
How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise,
Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering
To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies,
Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing?
Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car,
And driven the Hamadryad from the wood
To seek a shelter in some happier star?
Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood,
The Elfin from the green grass, and from me
The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?

Composed under the guidance of Dr. Daniel Kellogg at the University of Colorado.  An experimental piece in which opposing aspects of Science and Poetry are represented respectively by the piano and the soprano.  The former proceeds through a frighteningly mechanical continuum while the latter reacts aggressively in desperation.  Sadly, one of these two great powers must lose this particular battle.

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Absolutely free to read, download, print and perform.