the talisman.
91
"If Love or Pity tuned the string,
Or Memory ask'd its aid,
Sweet, pleading notes, the charmèd thing
In tender cadence play'd.
Or Memory ask'd its aid,
Sweet, pleading notes, the charmèd thing
In tender cadence play'd.
"If Anger touch'd the quivering chords
With trembling hand of fire,
What demon-tones—what burning words
Resounded from the lyre!
With trembling hand of fire,
What demon-tones—what burning words
Resounded from the lyre!
"But oh! when soft Forgiveness came,
And o'er the discord sigh'd,—
How like an angel's lute of love
That fairy lyre replied!
And o'er the discord sigh'd,—
How like an angel's lute of love
That fairy lyre replied!
"A fearful power the gift possess'd,
A power for good or ill;—
Each passion of the human breast
Could sweep the strings at will.
A power for good or ill;—
Each passion of the human breast
Could sweep the strings at will.
"And it could melt to softest tears,
Or madden into crime,
The hearts that heard its thrilling strains,
Wild, plaintive, or sublime.
Or madden into crime,
The hearts that heard its thrilling strains,
Wild, plaintive, or sublime.
