"The Celestial Twins, while recognizing many affinities between music and poetry, argues that poetry in Western culture has repeatedly separated itself from musical contexts and that the best poetry is a purely verbal art." "H. T. Kirby-Smith makes his case with wit and erudition, proceeding chronologically and citing numerous examples of specific poems - from Latin, Old French, Italian, Anglo-Saxon, modern French, and English."--BOOK JACKET.