MISCELLANIES. A SONG, FOR ST. CECILIA'S DAY, AT OXFORD. CECILIA! whose exalted hymns With joy and wonder fill the bless'd, In choirs of warbling seraphims Known and distinguish'd from the rest; Attend, harmonious Saint! and see Thy vocal sons of Harmony; Attend, harmonious Saint! and hear our prayers; And as thou sing'st thy God, teach us to sing of thee: Let all Cecilia's praise proclaim, Employ the echo in her name. Hark how the flutes and trumpets raise, Cecilia's name through all the notes we sing, The sound of every trembling string, Music! the greatest good that mortals know, With unsuspected eloquence can move The wolf and lamb around him trip, The moving woods attended as he play'd, Music religious heats inspires; It wakes the soul and lifts it high, And wings it with sublime desires, And fits it to bespeak the Deity. The' Almighty listens to a tuneful tongue, And seems well pleased, and courted with a song. Soft moving sounds and heavenly airs [prayers. Give force to every word, and recommend our When time itself shall be no more, And all things in confusion hurl'd, Music shall then exert its power, And sound survive the ruins of the world; Then saints and angels shall agree In one eternal jubilee ; All Heaven shall echo with their hymns divine, And God himself with pleasure see The whole creation in a chorus join. CHORUS. Consecrate the place and day To music and Cecilia: Let no rough winds approach, nor dare THE PLAY-HOUSE. WHERE gentle Thames through stately channels And stretches o'er the waves a pompous shade; 1 Probably Rich. |