“Again he struck the harp and began the jig. But this time it was such music as never came from a harp.”

Harper of the Stones (1986).
Context: Again he struck the harp and began the jig. But this time it was such music as never came from a harp. It was the wildest, strangest music you ever heard, full of the sound of birds and the cries of animals and the wind and the rain, and the thunder and the lightning, and the dashing of huge waves against the shores of a great cold ocean that was formed from ice that had made its way slowly down from Ultima Thule. It was the sound of a world before mankind. It was the sound of the great merriment God must have known during the long days of Creation.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Again he struck the harp and began the jig. But this time it was such music as never came from a harp." by Robertson Davies?
Robertson Davies photo
Robertson Davies 282
Canadian journalist, playwright, professor, critic, and nov… 1913–1995

Related quotes

Novalis photo

“Nature is an Æolian Harp, a musical instrument; whose tones again are keys to higher strings in us.”

Novalis (1772–1801) German poet and writer

Novalis (1829)

John Muir photo

“Every hidden cell is throbbing with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings.”

John Muir (1838–1914) Scottish-born American naturalist and author

Source: The Wilderness World of John Muir

George Bancroft photo

“Things proceed as they were ordered, in their nice, and well-adjusted, and perfect harmony; so that as the hand of the skilful artist gathers music from the harp-strings, history calls it forth from the well-tuned chords of time.”

George Bancroft (1800–1891) American historian and statesman

Literary and Historical Miscellanies (1855), The Necessity, the Reality, and the Promise of the Progress of the Human Race (1854)
Context: The glory of God is not contingent on man's good will, but all existence subserves his purposes. The system of the universe is as a celestial poem, whose beauty is from all eternity, and must not be marred by human interpolations. Things proceed as they were ordered, in their nice, and well-adjusted, and perfect harmony; so that as the hand of the skilful artist gathers music from the harp-strings, history calls it forth from the well-tuned chords of time. Not that this harmony can be heard during the tumult of action. Philosophy comes after events, and gives the reason of them, and describes the nature of their results. The great mind of collective man may, one day, so improve in self-consciousness as to interpret the present and foretell the future; but as yet, the end of what is now happening, though we ourselves partake in it, seems to fall out by chance. All is nevertheless one whole; individuals, families, peoples, the race, march in accord with the Divine will; and when any part of the destiny of humanity is fulfilled, we see the ways of Providence vindicated. The antagonisms of imperfect matter and the perfect idea, of liberty and necessary law, become reconciled. What seemed irrational confusion, appears as the web woven by light, liberty and love. But this is not perceived till a great act in the drama of life is finished. The prayer of the patriarch, when he desired to behold the Divinity face to face, was denied; but he was able to catch a glimpse of Jehovah, after He had passed by; and so it fares with our search for Him in the wrestlings of the world. It is when the hour of conflict is over, that history comes to a right understanding of the strife, and is ready to exclaim: "Lo! God is here, and we knew it not."

James Macpherson photo

“Hail, Carril of other times! Thy voice is like the harp in the halls of Tura.”

James Macpherson (1736–1796) Scottish writer, poet, translator, and politician

Book V
The Poems of Ossian, Fingal, an ancient Epic Poem

Letitia Elizabeth Landon photo

“Come, gentle harp, and let me hold
Communion with thy melody,
And be my tale of sorrow told
To thee, my harp, and only thee.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) English poet and novelist

(27th September 1823) Extracts from my Pocket Book. Song
The London Literary Gazette, 1823

Harry Harrison photo

“The crossbows twanged like harps of death.”

Harry Harrison (1925–2012) American science fiction author

Source: Deathworld (1960), p. 154

Letitia Elizabeth Landon photo

“For my spirit hath left her earthly home
And found a nobler dwelling,
Where the music of light is that of life,
And the starry harps are swelling.”

Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838) English poet and novelist

The Golden Violet - Amenaïde
The Golden Violet (1827)

Edward Coote Pinkney photo
Joanna Newsom photo

Related topics