Poem by Thomas Moore

From “Irish Melodies”. 108. Sing — Sing — Music Was Given

          SING — sing — Music was given
                To brighten the gay, and kindle the loving;
          Souls here, like planets in heaven,
                By harmony’s laws alone are kept moving.
          Beauty may boast of her eyes and her cheeks,
                But Love from the lips his true archery wings;
          And she, who but feathers the dart when she speaks,
                At once sends it home to the heart when she sings.
                    Then sing — sing — Music was given,
                          To brighten the gay, and kindle the loving;
                    Souls here, like planets in heaven,
                          By harmony’s laws alone are kept moving.

          When Love, rock’d by his mother,
                Lay sleeping as calm as slumber could make him,
          "Hush, hush," said Venus, "no other
                Sweet voice but his own is worthy to wake him."
          Dreaming of music he slumber’d the while,
                Till faint from his lip a soft melody broke,
          And Venus, enchanted, look’d on with a smile,
                While Love to his own sweet singing awoke.
                    Then sing — sing — Music was given,
                          To brighten the gay, and kindle the loving;
                    Souls here, like planets in heaven,
                          By harmony’s laws alone are kept moving.

1. From “Irish Melodies”. 41. Lesbia Hath a Beaming Eye
2. From “Irish Melodies”. 47. What the Bee Is to the Floweret
3. From “Irish Melodies”. 120. Oh, Could We Do with This World of Ours
4. From “Irish Melodies”. 48. Love and the Novice
5. From “The Odes of Anacreon”. Ode 27

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