Music to hear, why hear‘st thou music sadly?
Sweets with sweets war not, joy delights in joy:
Why lov‘st thou that which thou receiv‘st not gladly,
Or else receiv‘st with pleasure thine annoy?
If the true concord of well-tuned sounds,
By unions married, do offend thine ear,
They do but sweetly chide thee, who confounds
In singleness the parts that thou shouldst bear.
Mark how one string, sweet husband to another,
Strikes each in each by mutual ordering;
Resembling sire and child and happy mother,
Who, all in one, one pleasing note do sing:
    Whose speechless song being many, seeming one,
    Sings this to thee: ‘Thou single wilt prove none.‘

Explanation of the poem

Music, oh why do you listen to it with such sadness imbued? The harmonies of sweet melodies do not engage in battle, nor does joy find delight in its own kind. So, why do you love something that does not bring you joy? Or worse, why do you receive with pleasure that which troubles you?

If the perfect harmony of well-tuned sounds, joined together in matrimony, offends your ears, they merely gently scold you for confusing the individual notes that you should bear in unison. Observe how one string, like a devoted spouse to another, strikes harmoniously against each other through their shared arrangement. It resembles a father, a child, and a contented mother who, in unison, sing a pleasing tune as one entity.

This voiceless song, though composed of many voices, appears as a single, unified melody. And it sings this to you: “If you remain solitary, you shall become nothing.”

Remember, dear music enthusiast, to embrace the interconnectedness of harmonious sounds, for within this unity lies the true essence of music’s beauty.