The too numerous figures and metaphors (which he was fond of borrowing from the sea) express the taste of the time, and so far from troubling the musician, gave him opportunities for musical painting which was sure to be admired. The melodious language met the music half way, while the simple yet varied rhythm, the contrast of ideas, and the construction of the verse, aided the composer, without fettering him, in the musical phrasing of his work. It was no wonder that Metastasio reigned supreme over the stage and its composers, and that he was the model of the later operatic poets; they succeeded best in imitating his defects, and gave Naumann occasion to say with justice, "The oldest of Metastasio's operas is more pleasing to me than any written by our present poets." Metastasio was well aware that the poet only supplies a stem to the opera, which the composer clothes with foliage and blossom;[38] but he was far from allowing the composer absolute dominion over the poet, and prided himself on the {CONDITIONS OF LIBRETTO-WRITING.} (171) fact that his operas had been played with applause as tragedies without music both in France and Germany.[39] He chose to consider the composer as the interpreter of the poet, and bound to follow his indications of character and style.[40] This was in his opinion the chief merit of the old composers, and in his later years he was never weary of deploring the decline of music, which was the consequence of the license taken by vocalists, destroying alike truth and beauty of expression.[41] The poet not less than the composer found himself hemmed in by conditions as well as by traditional formulas. He too performed his task to order, and was hampered by circumstances, and by the limited means at his command in his choice of subject and characters. It was in no way favourable to Zeno and Metastasio that they received their commissions from the court;[42] besides the direct influence of the taste of the _somme padrone_, the whole atmosphere tended to effeminacy and a uniform level in style. The impresarii chose the libretti for the composers they had engaged, partly according to the applause the subjects had already received, but more to suit the singers they had at command. They were altered to suit the occasion sometimes by the poet himself, but more often some local poet undertook the necessary curtailments and additions, whereby the work seldom profited.[43] {MOZART'S EARLY OPERAS.} (172)