[OHelix]

I get all but “Soft airs possess the potency to mitigate the anguish residual in the barbaric thorax.”

[redhead]

"“Soft airs possess the potency to mitigate the anguish residual in the barbaric thorax.”

"Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast."

[AndrewB]

Music hath power to soothe the savage breast.

[Domestic Church]

Music soothes the savage beast?

[Cowman]

I get all but “Soft airs possess the potency to mitigate the anguish residual in the barbaric thorax.”

The phrase was coined by William Congreve, in The mourning bride, 1697:

Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast,
To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.
I've read, that things inanimate have mov'd,
And, as with living Souls, have been inform'd,
By Magick Numbers and persuasive Sound.
What then am I? Am I more senseless grown
Than Trees, or Flint? O force of constant Woe!
'Tis not in Harmony to calm my Griefs.
Anselmo sleeps, and is at Peace; last Night
The silent Tomb receiv'd the good Old King;
He and his Sorrows now are safely lodg'd
Within its cold, but hospitable Bosom.
Why am not I at Peace?