"Take Down Thy Harp"

Yesterday I mentioned the Celtic Psalter I have been reading and thought it both interesting and coincindental that I found the following poem in the excellent Harp Spectrum website (harpspectrum.org)

TAKE DOWN THY HARP

In the midst of the "darkest hour" of Psalms 42-43: 
"Then will I go unto the altar of God...
yea, upon the harp will I praise thee."

"Take down thy harp,"
Nay, let it hang!
'Twill give but clang
In these dire days when
broods, as once

O'er the abyss,
Dread darkness covering all the earth.
When atom-bomb,
And rays-of-death.
And scourge of plague
May drop from skies, and man
become a fox, a mole --

"Take down thy harp,"
Nay, let it hang!

And yet, and yet --
Take down thy harp!
For darkest hour
It still holds power,
As harp of David once of old
--Harp surely heard
At temple altar's sacred shrine.
Let hope revive
And faith press on!
Go forth, look round;
Behold, the world is fair and skies
are azure blue!

--Take down thy harp!

by Einar Atair Paulanton
St. Paul, Minn.

This poem appeared in the 
Lutheran Companion, Sept. 8, 1948

Blessings,

Duncan