Till lips, that know the charm, have spoken, SHALL THE HARP THEN BE SILENT? AIR-Mccfarlane's Lamentation. SHALL the Harp then be silent, when he, who first gave To our country a name, is withdrawn from all eyes? Shall a Minstrel of Erın stand mute by the grave, Where the first-where the last of her Patriots lies? No-faint though the death-song may fall from his lips, Though his Harp, like his soul. may with shadows be crost, Yet, yet shall it sound, mid a nation's eclipse, And proclaim to the world what a star hath been lost? It is only these two first verses, that are either fitted or intended to be sung. What a union of all the affections and powers, By which life is exalted, embellish'd, refined, Was embraced in that spirit whose centre was ours, While its mighty circumference circled mankind. Oh, who that loves Erin-or who that can see, Through the waste of her annals that epoch sublime Like a pyramid, raised in the desert—where he And his glory stand out to the eyes of all time! That one lucid interval snatch'd from the gloom And the madness of ages, when, fill'd with his soul, A nation o'erleap'd the dark bounds of her doom, And, for one sacred instant, touch'd Liberty's Who, that ever hath heard him-hath drank at the source Of that wonderful eloquence, all Erin's own, In whose high-thoughted daring, the fire, and the force, And the yet untamed spring of her spirit are shewn An eloquence rich-wheresoever its wave Wander'd free and triumphant that shone through, with thoughts As clear as the brook's « stone of lustre,» and gáve, With the flash of the gem, its solidity too. Who, that ever approach'd him, when, free from the crowd, In a home full of love, he delighted to tread, 'Mong the trees which a nation had given, and which bow'd, As if each brought a new civic crown for his head. That home, where-like him who, as fable hath told, Put the rays from his brow, that his child might come near Every glory forgot, the most wise of the old Became all that the simplest and youngest hold dear. Apollo, in his interview with Phaeton, as described by Ovid. Deposuit rados propiusque accedere jussit. : Is there one who nath thus through his orbit of life, But at distance observed him-through glory, through blame, In the calm of retreat, in the grandeur of strife, Whether shining or clouded, still high and the same Such a union of all that enriches life's hour, Of the sweetness we love and the greatness we praise, As that type of simplicity blended with power, A child with a thunderbolt only pourtrays. Oh, no not a heart, that e'er knew him, but mourns, Deep deep o'er the grave, where such glory is O'er a monument Fame will preserve, 'mong the urns Of the wisest, the bravest, the best of mankind! OH, THE SIGHT ENTRANCING. AIR-Planxty Sudley. Oн, the sight entrancing, When morning's beam is glancing With helm and lade, And plumes, in the gay wind dancing! May lead to death, But never to retreating! Oh the sight entrancing, When morning's beam is glancing O'er files array'd With helm and blade, And plumes, in the gay wind dancing! Yet, 'tis not helm or feather For ask yon despot, whether His plumed bands Could bring such hands And hearts as ours together. |