Musing #2 – Savage Beast or Breast?

WilliamCongrevePortrait1709Do you know that the correct phrase is “Music has charms to soothe the savage breast”
not “beast” and that the incorrect version is more often spoken than the correct one?

The phrase was coined by William Congreve, in The Mourning Bride, 1697:

“Music has Charms to sooth a savage Breast,
To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.”

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