Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1854-02-27
DAILY EVENING STAR.
THE HARP

vi all the musical instruments tha
have touched the ear and the heart @
mankind, the heart stands foremost. Ex
| qulsitely beautiful as is the spirit of il.
chords when struck by the hands of ,
master, the glory ofits renown lies in as.
sociations and memories, tender and sa
cred, connecting it with the earliest his
tory OF our race, and with the most TO.
mantle and poetic ages OF the past. Wher
the oppreSsor of Israel asked for song
from the dark-eyed daughters of his cap.
tlves, as they sat weeping by the waters
OF Babylon, they pointed to their harps
" hung upon the willows - and their lips
refused song of joy. The national in
strument might wall a psalm of sorrow
to Tighten the WEAKNESS of captivity. to
recall the memories of home, but it had
no Jubilant strain to gladden. the heart O;
conqueror while the "chosen people
sat in bondage and tears.
But there were exultant strains in the
harp, when David touched the strings.
and danced before the ark; or when the
feet OF Miriam moved obedient to its har.
monies. The harp, too, was exultant in
the hands Of the Northern Skald, as he
celebrated the triumphs of, its Jarl, or
sounded the praise and majesty of his
gods In the halls of Wodin, or on the
mountain tops consecra ed to Thor.
There the wbite-haired and white-robed
bard sang to the muse of the harp, the
history ofraces and heroes, the glory of
religion, and the splendors of the immor
tai state. The wandering Romans, ap-
preaching the shores of Britain, thus be-
held the priests and poets of religion
anterior to Christ, piling sacrifcial fires,
and invoking the aid of their deities
against the invading Caesar. In all North
ern Europe, the harp sounded in banquet
hall and camp, at the druid altar, and at
the head of the embattled host. The
harper was historian, eulogist, priest and
seer.
Kings were harpers old. The psalm
iSt monarch uttered his rejoicing and
sorrow to the music of the harp. The
Great Alfred, Of Britain, found in his
harp ready key to the camp and tent
of the conquerer Of his country, and
while he charmed the ear of the Dane as
he quatfed his mead, he also espied the
weakness of foe, who, ere another dawn
felt the fair hand of the roral harper vic-
toriously grasping the battle axe and the
sword. And the great conquerer, Brian
Roroihme-a king by might as by right:
not heavier were his death dealing blows
on the Field of the Great Banner" Clon-
tart, than were his fingers light and wiz
Zard when he touched the harp which
Ireland still treasures among her relics.
and which Boscha claims to have touched
to please the ear Of Saxon king. And
who has not fancied hearing, in some
reyerie of the soul over the fall and sor-
row of nations, the strains of that might
Ter harp, viewless, but living and i'm
mortal:
''The harp that hung ia T2ra's halls''
Rude or perfect, in all nations the harp
has had home and a welcome. The
Hebrew the Scandinavian, the Cimbrian,
and the Celt, have held it halIowed. |
Saints, pilgrims, and heroes, have been
solaced by it. and we are taught that
ascending to higher glories the angels of
God strike celestial melodies from its
strings. 1t is not strange, then, with
sHch history upon earth, and such
and fifth attached to its future,
that the harp is become a chosen and
universal, as it is a sacred instrument.
lntrlnsically exquisite, in form as in tone,
it lacks nothing that could commendit to
our sympathies and delight.
Newcastlc lind. Banner.