And the ruddy rays of the eventide
Were gilding the skirts of a forest wide;
The moss of the trees looked old, so old!
And valley and hill, the ancient mould
Was robed in sward, an evergreen cloak;
And a woodman sang as he felled an oak.
Him asked the Shadow—“Rememberest thou
Any trace of a Sea where wave those trees?”
But the woodman laughed: Said he, “I trow,
If oaks and pines do flourish and fall,
It is not amid seas;—
The earth is one forest all.”
And after a thousand years were o’er,
The Shadow paused over the spot once more.
And what saw the Shadow? A city agen,
But peopled by pale mechanical men,
With workhouses filled, and prisons, and marts,
And faces that spake exanimate hearts.
Strange picture and sad! was the Shadow’s thought;
And, turning to one of the Ghastly, he sought
For a clue in words to the When and the How
Of the ominous Change he now beheld;
But the man uplifted his care-worn brow—
“Change? What was Life ever but Conflict and Change?
From the ages of eld
Hath affliction been widening its range.”
Enough! said the Shadow, and passed from the spot
At last it is vanished, the beautiful youth
Of the earth, to return with no To-morrow;
All changes have checquered Mortality’s lot;
But this is the darkest—for Knowledge and Truth
Are but golden gates to the Temple of Sorrow! M.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
A great and truly national work—the Ancient Music of Ireland—collected and arranged for the piano-forte by Edward Bunting, has just issued from the Dublin press; and whether we consider its intrinsic merits, the beauty of its typography and binding, or the liberal and enterprising spirit of its publishers, they are all equally deserving of the highest approbation. This is indeed a work of which Ireland may feel truly proud, for, though in every respect Irish, we believe nothing equal to it in its way has hitherto appeared in the British empire, and we trust that all the parties concerned in its production will receive the rewards to which they are so justly entitled. To all lovers of national melody this work will give the most intense pleasure; while by those who think there is no melody so sweet and touching as that of Ireland, it will be welcomed with feelings of delight which no words could adequately express. It is a work which assuredly will never die. To its venerable Editor, Ireland owes a deep feeling of gratitude, as the zealous and enthusiastic collector and preserver of her music in all its characteristic beauty; for though our national poet, Moore, has contributed by the peculiar charm of his verses to extend the fame of our music over the civilised world, it should never be forgotten that it is to Bunting that is due the merit of having originally rescued from obscurity those touching strains of melody, the effect of which, even upon the hearts of those most indifferent to Irish interests generally, Moore has so feelingly depicted in his well-known lines:—
“The stranger shall hear thy lament on his plains;
The sighs of thy harp shall be sent o’er the deep;
Till thy masters themselves, as they rivet thy chains,
Shall pause at the song of their captive, and weep.”
The merits of this work are, however, of a vastly higher order than those of either of the former collections which Mr Bunting gave to the world; for, while the melodies are of equal beauty, they are arranged with such exquisite musical feeling and skill as to enhance that beauty greatly; and we do not hesitate to express our conviction that there is not any musician living who could have harmonized them with greater judgment or feeling. This volume contains above one hundred and sixty melodies, and of these only a few have been previously made known to the public. It also contains an interesting preface, and a most valuable dissertation on the ancient music of Ireland, in which its characteristic peculiarities are admirably analysed; and on the method of playing the Harp; the Musical Vocabulary of the old Irish Harpers; a Treatise on the Antiquity of the Harp and Bagpipe in Ireland by Samuel Ferguson, Esq., M.R.I.A., full of curious antiquarian lore, and in which is comprised an account of the various efforts made to revive the Irish Harp; a dissertation by Mr Petrie on the true age of the Harp, popularly called the Harp of Brian Boru; and, lastly, anecdotes of the most distinguished Irish Harpers of the last two centuries, collected by the Editor himself. To these are added, Remarks on the Antiquity and Authors of the Tunes when ascertained, with copious indices, giving their original Irish names, as well as the names and localities of the persons from whom they were obtained. The work is illustrated with numerous wood-cuts, as well as with copperplate engravings of the ancient Irish Harp above alluded to. This slight notice will, it is hoped, give our readers for the present some idea of the value and importance of this delightful work; but we shall return to it again and again, for we consider it is no less than our duty to make its merits familiar to our readers, as our music is a treasure of which all classes of our countrymen should feel equally proud, and in the honour of extending the celebrity of which they should all feel equally desirous to participate. P.