We happened to speak of the fact that my sister, then a little girl,
though absolutely without ear for music, had a curious delight
in listening to it. Mr. Lanier said he would like to play to her;
we called her in from the yard where she was playing, and he played
some of his own music, explaining to her first what he thought of
when he wrote it, describing to her the brook in its course, and other things
in nature. He could easily have found a more appreciative listener,
but not a happier one.
"I remember his eagerness about all forms of knowledge and expression.
We went with him to the Centennial, where we were full of excitement
about pictures, though none of us knew much about them.
I remember the pleasure Mr. Lanier had in the sense of color and splendor
given him by the big Hans Makart (`Caterina Cornaro') and discussions of that
and the English and Spanish pictures. Intellectually he seemed to me
not so much to have arrived as to be on the way, -- with a beautiful
fervor and eagerness about things, as if he had never had
all that he longed for in books and study and thought."*
--
* Letter to the author.
--
Lanier had remarkable power for making and keeping friends.
This has already been seen in his relations to the Peacocks,
Charlotte Cushman, and Bayard Taylor. In the large circle of friends
among whom he moved in Baltimore may be seen further attestation
of this point. People did not pity him, nor did they dole out charity to him.
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