So if never a living ear is there,
There is nothing to strike and nothing to hear.
Though the vibrations move on, and live,
And thus the law of their being obey,
'Tis the ear produces the sound they give—
That's what I heard a philosopher say.
So if thunder, roll'd through quivering air,
With that awful silence reigning around,
And you or I suddenly landed there,
All Nature would break at once into sound.