"He _smote_; and clinging to the serious chords With godlike ravishment," &c. was no classical commonplace; nor, in respect to impression on the mind, was it exaggeration to say, that from a single chord he would fetch out-- "The voice of quires, and weight Of the built organ." Paganini, the first time I saw and heard him, and the first time he struck a note, seemed literally to _strike_ it--to give it a blow. The house was so crammed, that being among the squeezers in the standing-room at the side of the pit, I happened to catch the first glance of his face through the arm a-kimbo of a man who was perched up before me, which made a kind of frame for it; and there on the stage, in that frame, as through a perspective glass, were the face, bust, and the raised hand of the wonderful musician, with the instrument at his chin, just going to commence, and looking exactly as I have described him. "His hand Loading the air with dumb expectancy Suspended, ere it fell, a nation's breath. He _smote_; and clinging to the serious chords With godlike ravishment, drew forth a breath So deep, so strong, so fervid, thick with love-- Blissful, yet laden as with twenty prayers, That Juno yearned with no diviner soul, To the first burthen of the lips of Jove. Th' exceeding mystery of the loveliness Sadden'd delight; and with his mournful look Dreary and gaunt, hanging his pallid face 'Twixt his dark flowing locks, he almost seemed Too feeble, or, to melancholy eyes, One that has parted with his soul for pride, And in the sable secret lived forlorn." "'To show the depth and identicalness of the impression which he made upon everybody, foreign or native, an Italian who stood near me said to himself, after a sigh, "O Dio!" and this had not been said long when another person, in the same manner, uttered "O Christ!" Musicians pressed forward from behind the scenes to get as close to him as possible; and they could not sleep at night for thinking of him.'"--_Timbs's Anecdote Biography_. THACKERAY ON ORCHESTRAL MUSIC.