Dear harp of my country (Michael William Balfe)

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• (Posted 2024-01-20)  CPDL #78814:     

Editor: David Anderson (submitted 2024-01-20).   Score information: Letter, 8 pages, 456 kB   Copyright: Personal

Edition notes:

General Information

Title: Dear harp of my country
Composer: Anonymous (Traditional)
Arranger: Michael William Balfe
Lyricist: Thomas Moore
Number of voices: 4vv   Voicing: SATB
Genre: Secular, Partsong, Folksong

Language: English
Instruments: Piano

First published: 1859 J. Alfred Novello
Description: AIR: NEW LANGOLEE

Original text and translations

English text

Dear Harp of my Country! in darkness I found thee,
The cold chain of silence had hung o’er thee long;*
When proudly, my own Island Harp, I unbound thee
And gave all thy chords to light, freedom and song!
The warm lay of love and the light note of gladness
Have waken’d thy fondest, thy liveliest thrill;
But so oft hast thou echo’d the deep sigh of sadness,
That e’en in thy mirth it will steal from thee still.

Dear Harp of my Country! farewell to thy numbers
This sweet wreath of song is the last we shall twine;
Go, sleep with the sunshine of Fame on thy slumbers,
Till touch’d by some hand less unworthy than mine;
If the pulse of the patriot, soldier, or lover,
Have throbb’d at our lay ’tis thy glory alone;
I was but as the wind, passing heedlessly over,
And all the wild sweetness I waked was thy own!