A HYMN TO HARMONY.
A HYMN TO HARMONY, Written in HONOUR of St.
CECILIA
's Day, MDCCI.
By Mr.
CONGREVE.
Set to Musick by Mr.
JOHN ECCLES,
Master of Her Majesties Musick.
LONDON,
Printed for
Jacob Tonson
within
Grays-Inn Gate
next
Grays-Inn Lane.
1703.
A HYMN TO HARMONY, In HONOUR of St.
CECILIA
's Day.
MDCCI.
I.
O
Harmony,
to thee we sing,
To thee the grateful Tribute bring
Of Sacred Verse, and sweet resounding Lays;
Thy Aid invoking while thy Pow'r we praise.
All Hail to thee
All-pow'rful
Harmony!
Wise Nature owns thy undisputed Sway,
Her wond'rous Works resigning to thy Care;
The Planetary Orbs thy Rule obey,
And tuneful roll, unerring in their way,
Thy Voice informing each melodious Sphere.
CHORUS.
All Hail to thee
All-pow'rful
Harmony!
II.
Thy Voice, O
Harmony,
with awful Sound
Could penetrate th' Abyss profound,
Explore the Realms of ancient Night,
And search the living Source of unborn Light.
Confusion heard thy Voice and fled,
And
Chaos
deeper plung'd his vanquish'd Head.
Then didst thou,
Harmony,
give birth
To this fair form of Heav'n and Earth;
Then all those Shining Worlds above
In Mystick Dance began to move
Around the radiant Sphere of Central Fire,
A never ceasing, never silent Choir.
CHORUS.
Confusion heard thy Voice and fled,
And
Chaos
deeper plung'd his vanquish'd Head.
III.
Thou only, Goddess, first could'st tell
The mighty Charms in Numbers found;
And didst to Heav'nly Minds reveal
The secret force of tuneful Sound.
When first
Cyllenius
form'd the Lyre,
Thou didst the God inspire;
When first the vocal Shell he strung,
To which the Muses sung:
Then first the Muses sung; melodious Strains
Apollo
plaid,
And Musick first begun by thy auspicious Aid.
Hark, hark, again
Urania
sings!
Again
Apollo
strikes the trembling Strings!
And see, the list'ning Deities around
Attend insatiate, and devour the Sound.
CHORUS.
Hark, hark, again
Urania
sings!
Again
Apollo
strikes the trembling Strings!
And see, the list'ning Deities around
Attend insatiate, and devour the Sound.
IV.
Descend
Urania,
Heav'nly Fair,
To the relief of this afflicted World repair;
See how with various Woes opprest,
The wretched Race of Men is worn;
Consum'd with cares, with doubts distrest
Or by conflicting Passions torn.
Reason in vain employs her Aid,
The furious Will on Fancy waits;
While Reason still by Hopes or Fears betray'd,
Too late advances or too soon retreats.
Musick alone with suddain Charms can bind
The wand'ring Sense, and calm the troubled Mind.
CHORUS.
Musick alone with suddain Charms can bind
The wand'ring Sense, and calm the troubled Mind.
V.
Begin the pow'rful Song, yee Sacred Nine,
Your Instruments and Voices join;
Harmony, Peace, and sweet Desire
In ev'ry Breast inspire.
Revive the melancholy drooping Heart,
And soft Repose to restless Thoughts impart.
Appease the wrathful Mind,
To dire Revenge and Death inclin'd:
With balmy Sounds his boiling Blood asswage,
And melt to mild Remorse his burning Rage.
'Tis done; and now tumultuous Passions cease;
And all is husht, and all is Peace.
The weary World with welcome Ease is blest,
By Musick lull'd to pleasing Rest.
CHORUS.
'Tis done; and now tumultuous Passions cease;
And all is husht, and all is Peace.
The weary World with welcome Ease is blest,
By Musick lull'd to pleasing Rest.
VI.
Ah, sweet Repose, too soon expiring!
Ah, foolish Man, new Toils requiring!
Curs'd Ambition, Strife pursuing,
Wakes the World to War and Ruin.
See, see, the Battle is prepar'd!
Behold the Hero comes!
Loud Trumpets with shrill Fifes are heard,
And hoarse resounding Drums.
War, with discordant Notes and jarring Noise,
The Harmony of Peace destroys.
CHORUS.
War, with discordant Notes and jarring Noise,
The Harmony of Peace destroys.
VII.
See the forsaken fair, with streaming Eyes
Her parting Lover mourn;
She weeps, she sighs, despairs and dies,
And watchful wastes the lonely livelong Nights,
Bewailing past Delights
That may no more, no never more return.
O sooth her Cares
With softest, sweetest Airs,
'Till Victory and Peace restore
Her faithful Lover to her tender Breast,
Within her folding Arms to rest,
Thence never to be parted more,
No never to be parted more.
CHORUS.
Let Victory and Peace restore
Her faithful Lover to her tender Breast,
Within her folding Arms to rest,
Thence never to be parted more,
No never to be parted more.
VIII.
Enough,
Urania,
heav'nly fair,
Now to thy Native Skies repair,
And rule again the Starry Sphere;
Cecilia
comes, with holy Rapture fill'd,
To ease the World of Care.
Cecilia,
more than all the Muses skill'd!
Phoebus
himself to her must yield,
And at her Feet lay down
His Golden Harp and Lawrel Crown;
The soft enervate Lyre is drown'd
In the deep Organ's more majestick Sound.
In peals the swelling Notes ascend the Skies;
Perpetual Breath the swelling Notes supplies,
And lasting as her Name,
Who form'd the tuneful Frame,
Th' immortal Musick never dies.
Grand CHORUS.
Cecilia,
more than all the Muses skill'd!
Phoebus
himself to her must yield,
And at her Feet lay down
His Golden Harp and Lawrel Crown;
The soft enervate Lyre is drown'd
In the deep Organ's more majestick Sound.
In peals the swelling Notes ascend the Skies;
Perpetual Breath the swelling Notes supplies,
And lasting as her Name,
Who form'd the tuneful Frame,
Th' immortal Musick never dies.
FINIS.
Books Printed for
Jacob Tonson
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THE Works of the late Famous Mr.
John Dryden,
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The Satyrs of
Decimus Junius Juvenalis,
Translated into English Verse. By Mr.
Dryden,
and several other Eminent Hands; together with the Satyrs of
Aulus Perseus Flaccus,
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A Hymn to the Light of the World. With a short Description of the
Cartons
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Raphael Urbin,
in the Gallery at
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Double Dealer, Love for Love, Mourning Bride, and Way of the World; all Written by Mr.
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The Christian Hero, an Argument proving that no Principles but those of Religion are sufficient to make a Great Man. The Second Edition; to which is added, an Argument, proving that true Greatness of Mind can be maintain'd by none but Christian Principles.
The Funeral, or Grief A-la-mode, a Comedy; as it is Acted at the
Theatre Royal
in
Drury-Lane,
by Her Majesties Servants. Both Written by Captain
Steele.
Tamerlane,
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New Theatre
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Lincolns-Inn-Fields.
Written by Mr.
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The False Friend, a Comedy, as it is Acted at the
Theatre Royal,
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A General Ecclesiastical History from the Nativity of our Blessed Saviour to the first Establishment of Christianity by Human Laws, under the Emperour
Constantine the Great;
containing the Space of about 313 Years: With so much of the
Jewish
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Roman
History as is necessary and convenient to illustrate the Work. To which is added, A large Chronological Table of all the
Roman
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Ecclesiastical
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Lawrence Echard,
A. M. Prebendary of
Lincoln,
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James,
Lord Bishop of that Diocese.
Several Orations of
Demosthenes,
to encourage the
Athenians
to oppose the Exorbitant Power of
Philip
of
Macedon.
English'd from the
Greek
by several Hands. To which is prefix'd the Historical Preface of Monsieur
Tourreil.
Tully
's Five Books
de Finibus;
or, concerning the last Object of
Desire
and
Aversion.
Done into
English
by
S. P.
Gent. Revis'd and compar'd with the Original, with a Recommendatory Preface; by
Jeremy Collier,
M. A. Together with an Apology for the Philosophical Writings of
Cicero,
in a Letter to the Translator: By Mr.
Henry Dodwell.
LATELY PUBLISH'D.
OBservationes quaedam Medico-practicae & Physiologicae; inter quas aliquanto susiùs agitur. De
Asthmate & Hydrophobia.
Quarum etiam Decem ultimis subjiciuntur
Administrationes
totidem Corporum morbis quorum Tituli Observationibus iis praefiguntur affectorum
Anatomicae,
cum particulari, & non ante observata. De Cordis in
Embryone
Vasorum
structura,
& sanguinis juxta eam circuitu
Dissertatione.
Autore
Hum. Ridley,
M. D. Coll. Reg. Med. Lond. Soc.