"Grandmother's Harp" (17 Sep 1883)
Song and Chorus
Words by J. F. Hartwell
Music by H. M. Estabrooke

Boston: Oliver Ditson & Co., 451 Washington St.
Plate No. 49876
[Source: 16617@LoC]

1. [Way] Up in the attic away from the light,
All covered with cobwebs and dust,
An old harp has lain many years out of sight,
And its strings are all eaten with rust;
Its case that once shone with the brightness of gold
Is tarnished by time and decay,
And the song which it sang with a sweetness untold
Has died into silence away.

CHORUS [sung after each verse]
Grandfather’s harp in the attic lies,
Safe from the wind and the rain,
And there it will stay till it moulders away,
Or grandmother wakens again.
(Awakens again.)

2. ’Tis many a year since dear grandmother died,
And they laid her away in the ground,
And the harp that was ever her solace and pride
By day has since uttered no sound;
For the heart that once loved it is lying asleep,
The fingers are silent and cold,
And never again o’er the strings will they sweep,
To waken its voice as of old.

3. But often at night when the attic is still
And the mouse is asleep in the wall,
The harp strings are swept with a tremulous thrill,
By fingers that airily fall;
And the harmony steals thro’ the silence and gloom.
Old ballads and snatches of song.
And it swells on the air til it filleth the room,
And echoes the rafters among.