The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1859-12-01
lffom tie .>o"iherm FIcH aud FIrcsiti. |
MUSIC AT NIGHTFALL.

| > "o'c WIS S!ruck Wncn the Universe frcsI
from the hand of the Creator, hymncd it,
Makers praise with its ten thousand excel
lent voices-when " the morning stars SAM
together and all the sons of God shouted
Tor JOY" The echoes Of that glad cvange
nave never ceased lin silvery, ripping tones
they still give expression to the raplures O.
human hearts, or in softer strains soo,h,
their hours of sadness, until beneath tn,
inspiring influence, feeling is once again
t'nged, pris'n-hued, by tho light from the
RAINBOW OF Hope, and eve walk among
the snn-beams, as with angels" The spell
Oh music owns all places and all seasons fo,
its magic influence but at niyhtfaIl is its
"itchlng power most prevalent and univcr-
sally ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS that hour. which
awakens all the poetry Of genius and the
romance OF emotion which imparts TO Ma,
ture most touching beauty, and gives to
her tones and a language unknown at any
other hour. Then that spell is woven
around us by the breeze that arises out of
the West, with long solemn swell solemn.
rs if it blew from tho Border Land TO lull
the sun iorsahen earth to everlasting" slum-
ters under the glowing eyes of myriad stars.
1t Is no wonder that ancient poets Eancie]
the cyeEing wind Il chorus OF departed spir.
Its, who thus poured teuder lamentations
along the air Of their native homes. Who
that has loved and lost, ever heard that
sound, unmovcd by memories of the dead.
Music at nightlall is heard, too, in The
roar of falling foods far off in the forest,
or in The "sonorous flow" Of rivers gliding
to the sea. 1t is waited by in the warbIing
of those birds that give songs in the night.
Every puIsation Of the great hca,t of na-
t"rc sends forth a thrill of melody, every
ru>tlng leaf and waving flower adds to the
grand symphony. But perhaps even more
potent than this unwritten music is that Of
audible words and Larmoniously tuned
strains.
1t is not so unearthly in the thoughts il
stirs; it links one less with tho spiritual,
but it seems more allied to our mortal sym
paties.
When ono sits alone in the grey, dreamy
twilight, the shadowy moonbcams stealing
in wavy lines of beauty along the floor and
up the walls, the cares Of buslIing day all
silently banished to some obIivious corner
of the heart, just then let an old familiar
tune fall through the distance upon the ear,
and how will it strike "the electric chain
wherewith we are darkly bound !" 1t may
be only snatch of somo unpre,ending
melody, simple lay of childhood, or onv
of the quaint hymns heard in the little
country church, long ago. But its charm
is not lcssened by that. At its touch the
leaves Of our past existence unfold and arc
turned backward, till the later record of
tears and toll and world. WEAKNESS vanishes
and once again the spirit claims fellowship
with Youth, and Hope and Love. At its
first sound, memory enters into the hall of
reflection and displays a panorama-like sue
cession Of pictures upon its walls. Some
Of them are colored, all, how brightly,
others are of neutral tint, others still are
covered by black clouds, and the figures
which compose them stand in spectral
array.
Slowly they fit along; in imagination
we revisit the place where that tune was
played, perchance years agone. The friends
who then surrounded us, re-appear. We
hush our breath and listen, till every quick
pulse th,obs with the mournful bliss of
recollection.
Fancy hears voices, whose flute.like tones
long since died away through the sladowy
valley-sees loving, earnest faces, whose
beaming glance was shut out from us in a
cruel moment by the touch of Deaths icy
fingers. The final echoes of music seem
caught up among the eternal stars, even to
the pearly gates through which we saw
our santed ones borne. Thus,
"When twilight wccps meath the azure veil,
And the sweet flowers sigh as the day grows
pale,
Angels hover DER us on silver wing,
And golden harps in their hands they bring"
And when the nightfall Of Time arrives,
and the soul prepares to render itself back
to the God who gave it, let music, rich and
deep, blending the pathos OF parting love
with the clear, firm notes Of expectant faith
arise beside the dying couch. So shall it
| "greet US last on earth to meet us first in
heaven!."
ZIoLA.
| --&s>s SS--.
Influence of the Smile in giving Beauty
of Erpressiom.-A beautiful smile is to the
female countenance what theTsunbeam is to
the landscape. 1t embellishes an inferior