SOURCE: Lenhart, Charmenz S. “Sidney Lanier.” In Musical Influence on American Poetry, pp. 210-92. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1956.

In the following excerpt, Lenhart offers a study of the role of music in the development and content of Lanier's poetry.

[Sidney] Lanier is the only professional musician in the annals of American poetry to achieve real fame as a poet. From 1873 on, a substantial portion of his income depended upon his abilities as an orchestral flutist and as a soloist. He was a kind of musical phenomenon, for when he came to Baltimore, he lacked the professional training that most orchestral musicians had, and he could scarcely sight-read orchestral material when he was hired to play the first flute with the Peabody Orchestra.¹ But he had a flawless technique and a beautiful tone, and in literally a matter of weeks he was sight-reading material with the best of...