Music! oh! how faint, how weak, When thou can breathe her soul so well? Can sweetly sooth, and not betray! IT IS NOT THE TEAR AT THIS MOMENT SHED.” AIR--" It is not the tear at this moment shed,* him, That can tell how belov'd was the soul that's fled, Or how deep in our hearts we deplore him: 'Tis the tear through many a long day wept, Through a life by his loss all shaded, Tis the sad remembrance fondly kept, When all other griefs are faded! Oh! thus shall we mourn, and his memory's light, While it shines thro' our hearts will improve them; *These lines were occasioned by the loss of a very near and dear relative, who died lately at Madería, For worth shall look fairer, and truth more bright, When we think how we liv'd but to love them! And, as buried saints the grave perfume, THE ORIGIN OF THE HARP. AIR-" Gang fane." 'Tis believ'd that this Harp which I now wake for thee, Was a Syren, of old, who sung under the sea, And who often at eve thro' the bright billow rov'd, To meet on the green shore a youth whom she lov'd. But she lov'd him in vain, for he left her to weep, And in tears, all the night her gold ringlets to steep, Till heav'n look'd, with pity, on true-love so warm, And chang'd to this soft Harp the sea-maiden's form! Still her bosom rose fair-still her cheeks smil'd the same, While her sea-beauties gracefully curled round the frame! And her hair, shedding tear-drops from all its bright rings, Fell over her white arms, to make the gold strings!* Hence it came that this soft Harp so long hath been known, To mingle love's language with sorrow's sad tone; Till thou didst divide them, and teach the fond lay To be love, when I'm near thee, and grief, when away! LOVE'S YOUNG DREAM. AIR" The Old Woman." OH! the days are gone, when beauty bright When my dream of life, from morn till night, Was love, still love! New hope may bloom, And days may come, Of milder, calmer beam; *This thought was suggested by an ingenious design, prefixed to an ode upon St. Cecilia, published some years since, by Mr. Hudson, of Dublin. But there's nothing half so sweet in life, Oh! there's nothing half so sweet in life, Though the bard to a purer fame may soar, When wild youth's past; Though he win the wise who frown'd before, To smile at last; He'll never meet In all his noon of fame, As when first he sung to woman's car Oh! that hallow'd form is ne'er forgot, Still it lingering haunts the greenest spot 'Twas odour fled As soon as shed, 'Twas morning's winged dream! 'Twas a light that ne'er can shine again On life's dull stream! Oh! 'twas light, that ne'er can shine again On life's dull stream. THE PRINCE'S DAY.* AIR-"St. Patrick's Day." THOUGH dark are our sorrows, to-day we'll forget them, And smile through our tears like a sunbeam in show'rs; There never were hearts, if our rulers would let them, More form'd to be tranquil and blest than ours! But, just when the chain Has ceas'd to pain, And hope has enwreath'd it round with flow'rs, There comes a new link Our spirits to sink! Oh! the joy of such hearts, like the light of the poles, Is a flash amid darkness, too brilliant to stay: But though 'twere the last little spark in our souls, We must light it up now, on our Prince's day. Contempt on the minion, who calls you disloyal! Though fierce to your foe, to your friends you are true; And the tribute most high to a head that is royal, Is love from a heart that loves liberty too. *This song was written for a fete in honour of the Prince of Wales' birth day, given by my friend, Major Bryan, last year, (1810), at his seat in the county of Kilkenny. |