Sinclair’s Description of the Musicians
From the opening wedding scene of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, a description of the musicians:
“The musicians–how shall one begin to describe them? All this time they have been there, playing a mad frenzy–all of this scene must be read, or said, or sung, to music. It is the music which changes the place from the rear room of a saloon in back of the yards to a fairy place, a wonderland, a little corner of the high mansions of the sky.
The little person who leads this trio is an inspired man. His fiddle is out of tune, and there is no rosin on his bow, but still he is an inspired man–the hands of the muses have been laid upon him. He plays like one possessed by a demon, by a whole horde of demons. You can feel them in the air round about him, capering frenetically; with their invisible feet they set the pace, and the hair of the leader of the orchestra rises on end, and his eyeballs start from their sockets, as he toils to keep up with them.”
(Sinclair 10)
God, isn’t that gorgeous, yet frightening prose? And if you just happen to hold an instrument from time-to-time, inspiring?
Don’t forget musicians, you are the reason a simple room becomes a wonderland. Play like a demon has grabbed you.
