MINSTREL! whose gifted hand can bring, Life, rapture, soul, from every string; And wake, like bards of former time, The spirit of the harp sublime; -- Oh! still prolong the varying strain! Oh! touch th' enchanted chords again! Thine is the charm, suspending care, The heavenly swell, the dying close, The cadence melting into air, That lulls each passion to repose. While transport, lost in silence near, Breathes all her language in a tear. Exult, O Cambria! -- now no more With sighs thy slaughtered bards deplore What though Plinlimmon's misty brow, And Mona's woods be silent now, Yet can thy Conway boast a strain Unrivalled in thy proudest reign. For Genius, with divine control, Wakes the bold chord neglected long, And pours Expression's glowing soul O'er the wild Harp, renowned in song. And Inspiration, hovering round, Swells the full energies of sound. Now Grandeur, pealing in the tone, Could rouse the warrior's kindling fire, And now, 'tis like the breeze's moan, That murmurs o'er th' AEolian lyre: As if some sylph, with viewless wing, Were sighing o'er the magic string. Long, long, fair Conway! boast the skill That soothes, inspires, commands, at will! And oh! while rapture hails the lay, Far distant be the closing day, When Genius, Taste, again shall weep, And Cambria's Harp lie hushed in sleep. |