No princely pomp nor wealthie store, No shape to winne a lover's eye: Some have too much, yet still they crave; They poore, I riche; they beg, I give ; I laugh not at another's losse, I grudge not at another's gaine, I join not in any earthly blisse, I weigh not Crasus's wealthe a straw ; For CARE, I care not what it is, I feare not fortune's fatall lawe : My minde is such as may not move For beautie bright nor force of love. I wish but what I have at will, I wander not to seek for more; I kisse not where I wish to kille, I feigne not love where most I hate ; The courte ne cart I like ne lothe,* Extreames are counted worst of all; My wealthe is healthe and perfect ease, * The court or cottage I neither like nor loath. A song like this, set to music and being popular, is a convincing proof of the taste, ease, and happiness of the people; they were not continually tormented about collecting together pounds, shillings, and pence for others to expend, so they cultivated the art of singing. This celebrated composer, who was the author of "Non Nobis Domine," gave the following eight reasons for learning to sing, in a work entitled "Psalms, Sonnets, and Songs of Sadness and Piete," 1598: "First; It is a knowledge easilie taught and quickly learned, when there is a good master and an apt scholar. Secondly; The exercise of singing is delightful to nature, and good to preserve the health of man. Thirdly; It doth strengthen all parts of the heart, and doth open the pipes. Fourthly; It is a singular good remedy for a stuttering and stammering in the speech. Fifthly; It is the best means to preserve a perfect pronunciation, and to make a good orator. Sixthly; It is the only way to know when nature hath bestowed a good voice, which gift is so rare that there is not one among a thousand that hath it. Seventhly; There is not any music of instruments whatsoever comparable to that which is made of men's voices, when the voices are good, and the same well sorted and orderly. Eighthly; The better the voice is, the meeter it is to honour and serve God therewith: and the voice of man is chiefly to be employed to that end. Omnis spiritus laudet Dominum."* EOLIAN HARP.-Every lover of nature's harmony is indebted for this simple, but pleasing, instrument to Athanasius Kircher, a learned German Jesuit, who died 1680. He describes the method of constructing and using it in his "Phonurgia Nova," 1659. His instrument was "made of pine wood, five palms (fifteen inches) long, two broad, and one deep: it may contain fifteen or more strings, all made of catgut. The method of tuning it is not as in other instruments, by thirds, fourths, and fifths, but all the strings are to be in unison, or in octaves; and it is wonderful that such different harmony should be produced from strings thus tuned." The learned Mathew Young, of Trinity College, Dublin, has paid considerable attention to it in his "Inquiry into the Principles of the Phenomena of Sounds." He says: "The phenomena of the colian lyre may be accounted for on principles analogous to those by which the phenomena of sympathetic sounds are explained.” * Musical Times. ON AN EOLIAN HARP. "Thus music's empire in the soul began, "While beneath the moon's dim ray Waked by breath of vernal breezes, While on the air the music floats. Where the moonbeam's trembling light, When touch'd by ruder gales, the lyre Glowing with the martial sound, But lo! the strains so solemn flow, Seem like the dirges of the slain- And now by softer breath inspired, Such was the wildly varying song That fill'd the echoing air, I'm told, When Ossian charm'd the list'ning throng Of blue-eyed maids and chieftains bold. Such sounds 'sweet melancholy' loves Such, in imagination's ear, Would be the wild melodious strain, O'er my melting bosom pour'd, Emotions sad-yet soothing rise, As deep and low the note is heard, Or quivering in the gale it dies. Thus all human grandeur flies. Proud with the songs of public praise; But with the breath the song decays!" "Th' Eolian harp, that heaven's pure breezes fill, A REVERY." I heard a sound, or something softly sweet, at such a distance that I thought it was something like music. I listened, to perceive what it could be-it was gone; a universal silence reigned: then by degrees a tender strain arose, soft and sweet as aromatic groves; onward it seemed to come, though still at such a distance that nothing but the most swelling strains could be distinctly heard. It paused again; then came a gentle whispering, scarcely to be perceived; when in a short time sounds, as if of voices, were heard to join in one grand chorus, of the richest and most varied harmony. It seemed gradually to approach the place where I sat, but as if at times deadened by intervening ivied walls. The sounds became fainter, though still mixed with the fullest harmony. Again it retreated, and, as if rising high into the air, it seemed as though a choir of angels had united to pay a visit to this unhappy earth; but, like the visionary bliss of dreams, when I thought it was within my grasp it was gone "Vanished, like traces on the deep, Or like a sceptre grasped in sleep.' "While I was lost in regret for this most beautiful and bewitching phantom, a single sound, in a strain of sweetest melody, was heard just close behind me: the air was solemn and heavenly serene; the tones were sometimes low and plaintive; then swelling gradually, they burst into an impassioned stream of rapturous exultation. My soul was lost, as it were, within me; I scarcely dared to breathe, when in an instant millions of choral voices joined in one loud, but sweet and continued peal of the richest harmony, that seemed to drown, in a temporary annihilation, this earth and all its numberless inhabitants. When these strains, after an endless variety of ever-changing modulations, at length subsided into a breathing pause, and my aerial charmed spirits had recovered some little of their usual elasticity, I found myself standing erect, with my hands stretched out toward Heaven, as though I had been paying my adorations to the Divine being, leaving a regret behind that I had not realized those perceptions "Which build a bridge across the gulf of death, In the year 1785 the Abbot of Gatoni constructed, at Como, in Italy, a gigantic colian harp. He stretched fifteen iron wires, of various thicknesses, from the top of a tower, about ninety feet high, to his dwelling house, about one hundred and fifty paces distant. It was observed to indicate with great exactness the changes in the weather, which was ascribed to electric influence. A similarly constructed one, by Captain Haas, of Basle, tended to the same results. I respectfully offer this hint to captains of ships, who may attach them to the masts and rigging: they will relieve the monotony of their voyages, and turn to some useful account if they have not a marine barometer; if they are lovers of music, they will furnish them with some beautiful sounds, swelling and dying away with the richest harmony. As the inconstant wind scarcely ever blows alike at any different periods, there is no fear of their becoming tired with the same tones; they will be as various to the ear as the ever-varying objects seen in the kaledeiscope or the stripes on the riband-grass are to the eye. I would advise those who keep singing birds to have an œolian harp; it would tend to modulate their shrill notes, and send forth some delightful symphonies during their pauses "Now huddling, now rehearsing, As with the windy messengers conversing." THEATRES. "THE Scripture affords us a divine pastoral drama in the Song of Solomon, consisting of two persons and a double chorus, as Origen rightly judges.' MILTON. MATHEW, of Paris, says Geoffrey of St. Albans, who was the abbot, was sent to Dunstable Priory to act a miracle play of St. Catherine, composed in 1119. After this there were mysteries acted in churches: mysteries were allegorical. Then there were historical plays, such as the "Massacre of the Danes " on Hock Tuesday of 1002: these were acted at Coventry in 1416. There were miracle plays acted at Tewksbury in 1585, I regret that I am not enabled to name the authors of these two exqui sitely beautiful compositions. |