Another World: Fragments from the Star City of MontalluyahLumley, Benjamin
Science
Another World: Fragments from the Star City of Montalluyah
Lumley, Benjamin
Utopias
As you have certain sounds responding to _do, re, mi_, &c., so have we
certain sounds and harmonies that convey certain expressions; for
instance: "I esteem you;" "I feel you in the pulsations of my blood,"
_i.e._ "I love you." Or perhaps the vibrations of the same harmony would
be varied so as to be higher or lower, sharp or flat; and the player
would convey that he felt the presence of his beloved in the appropriate
vibration of his nerves.
In another harmony, he would compare the admired object to some
beautiful soft bird like the Zudee, or a pet like the Kamouska.[1]
[Footnote 1: See p. 145.]
On the occasion of a love scene between a great harpist and a lady, I
have heard the following, amongst many other sentiments, expressed by
the harp: First Lenordi the harpist expressed his glowing sympathy, his
admiration of beauty, of goodness, his pleading to be heard, his hope
that no other occupied the lady's thoughts, his despair if his prayers
were not listened to, hope, expressions of eternal devotion; in short,
all the possible outpourings of a loving heart. It would be too tedious
to tell you all he conveyed, but he ended thus, "Thou art pure as the
dew upon the leaf of opening day ... but like to that dew wilt thy love
pass away!"
Giola--the lady--took her place at the harp, and played a response
expressing the following:--"Would I might believe these flattering
vibrations, and the bright hopes raised within an hour to wither in a
day.
"Could they but last, the skies above would pale beneath their
brightness.
"Yet I would not doubt thee; thy every look makes life a dream of love."
The player then made excuses for her seeming enthusiasm, by declaring
that even inanimate matter is moved by his soul-stirring strains.
"Every flower and every tendril is moved by thee, for, like thee, they
are fresh and gently gay."...
This led eventually to a "choice" meeting, and the marriage was attended
with many interesting incidents. Their history would of itself form a
curious romance!
Every one competent is educated in the meaning of the harp-sounds, and
the instruction in this branch of study commences at an early age.
Certain sentences are written, and a sound is given out and repeated
till the young person thoroughly understands what he has heard. Then the
sentence is renewed, perhaps, in connection with another sentence, the
accompanying sound is given, and in a short time the student says the
word or sentence accompanying every sound, and thus he soon learns how
to use these sounds, and how to vary and combine them, just as an
alphabet or series of words would be used by an able writer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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