Why do we say "Music has charms to soothe the savage breast"?

Background:

The phrase is relatively literal, meaning that music has the ability to calm people in even the most intense situations. In this case, “breast” refers to a person’s emotional core—that is, the heart has been referred to as the source of feeling, and the breast is, of course, the location of the heart.

Most attribute this saying to William Congreve (1670-1729) who, according to Britannica.com:

"[W]as an English dramatist who shaped the English comedy of manners through his brilliant comic dialogue, his satirical portrayal of the war of the sexes, and his ironic scrutiny of the affectations of his age. His major plays were The Old Bachelour (1693), The Double-Dealer (1693), Love for Love (1695), and The Way of the World (1700)."

The phrase in question, however, originated in one of his lesser-known works, The Mourning Bride (1697)—his only known tragedy. In Act 1, Scene 1 he writes:

Music has charms to soothe a savage breast,
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.

The saying is also often quoted as “Music has charms to soothe the savage beast,” which also makes sense, and, according to Phrases.org.uk, was likely the way the adage was originally written. Researcher Gary Martin points to Pharsalia, an epic poem by Lucan, the first-century Roman author. This work was translated into English by British writer Thomas May (1595-1650) in the 1620s:

…Whose charming voice and matchless musick mov’d
The savage beasts, the stones, and senseless trees…

Martin speculates that as a scholar himself, Congreve would have been familiar with May’s work, and that the two phrases are too similar to be coincidental. Hence, although the “official” version of the idiom refers to the “savage breast,” those who mention the “savage beast” aren’t really wrong—and knowing where each version comes from is a great bit of trivia to use to impress your friends.

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