[1] The chain of Silence was a sort of practical figure of rhetoric among
the ancient Irish. Walker tells us of "a celebrated contention for
precedence between Finn and Gaul, near Finn's palace at Almhaim, where the
attending Bards anxious, if possible, to produce a cessation of
hostilities, shook the chain of Silence, and flung themselves among the
ranks."
MY GENTLE HARP.
My gentle harp, once more I waken
The sweetness of thy slumbering strain;
In tears our last farewell was taken,
And now in tears we meet again.
No light of joy hath o'er thee broken,
But, like those Harps whose heavenly skill
Of slavery, dark as thine, hath spoken,
Thou hang'st upon the willows still.
And yet, since last thy chord resounded,
An hour of peace and triumph came,
And many an ardent bosom bounded
With hopes--that now art turned to shame.
Yet even then, while Peace was singing
Her halcyon song o'er land and sea,
Tho' joy and hope to others bringing,
She only brought new tears to thee.
Then, who can ask for notes of pleasure,
My drooping Harp, from chords like thine?
Alas, the lark's gay morning measure
As ill would suit the swan's decline!
Or how shall I, who love, who bless thee,
Invoke thy breath for Freedom's strains,
When even the wreaths in which I dress thee,
Are sadly mixt--half flowers, half chains?
But come--if yet thy frame can borrow
One breath of joy, oh, breathe for me,
And show the world, in chains and sorrow,
How sweet thy music still can be;
How gaily, even mid gloom surrounding,
Thou yet canst wake at pleasure's thrill--
Like Memnon's broken image sounding,
Mid desolation tuneful still!
IN THE MORNING OF LIFE.
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