Stevenson’s speaker listens to music that seems to flow from some deep, abiding source. The strong, steady chords first wash away the turmoil of the moment, leaving behind a quiet contentment, like sunlight after a storm. The broken pieces of the past feel healed, and a sense of victory settles over him.
But this peace quickly breaks. As the magnificent sounds roll onward, he cries out in sudden anguish. The music awakens a piercing longing for an idealized world—a tranquil sphere of strength and love, where he and his beloved can wander hand in hand, far from all life’s entanglements. He begs these “wings of music” to carry his soul there, away from a grim existence where people’s heart-strings are knotted together and every movement causes shared pain. The poem’s mood shifts from serene acceptance to desperate yearning, capturing the way beauty can both comfort and intensify our deepest desires.