"Take the Harp When All Is Silent" (Jun 1860)
Words and Music
by George Frederick Root, 1820-1895

[Source: No. 131, page 78, from "The Diapason"]

1. Take the harp when all is silent,
Save the whisper of the breeze,
Sweet its notes are as they linger,
Like sad spirits, ’mong the trees.
Pleasant are its soft, low breathings,
Swept from o’er the golden string;
Pleasant are its stronger murmurs—
O’er the heart they magic fling.

2. Take the harp when all is silent,
Strike some long forgotten air,
Touch the heart’s most secret channel,
Wake the thoughts that slumber there.
Then it is there seems to whisper
Voices from the distant past,
Telling of bright hopes now vanished—
Hopes too bright, to high to last.

2. Take the harp when all is silent,
Sing the songs of childhood’s hour,
Sing the notes of infant pastime,
Resting ’neath the shady bower.
Slumbering scenes pass o’er my vision,
Cross my mind in rapid flight,
Past and present are forgotten,
Mingled in a sea of light.

4. Take the harp when all is silent,
All ’neath sorrow’s cloud is laid,
As it were a gleam of sunshine
Penetrates the darksome shade.
Bright the picture ’neath thy finger,
Calling up a luster clear,
Bidding gloom and shade quick vanish,
Shedding beauty far and near.