Page:The Music of the Spheres.djvu/135

 that a dying swan sang very sweetly. At least we are quite certain that Lyra is the harp that Mercury invented, that the Sun-god endowed with a golden tone, and that Orpheus played upon when he held spellbound not only mankind, but beasts, rocks and trees.

This great Harp floats across the dome of the heavens on summer evenings with the blue jewel Vega blazing on its frame. Longfellow in "The Occultation of Orion" clearly visioned

It is easy to imagine that these twinkling chords still sigh and give forth strains of music, for an Æolian Harp is a harp that sings when a wind passes over its strings, and the music of such an instrument is of a drowsy, lulling quality which blends beautifully into dreams.



Just east of the Harp Star, in the center of the Milky Way, rests a cross of stars, clear and bright, as if a cross had really been placed there and then studded with five big stars.

During the month of May the Cross rises on its side (as viewed by an observer in the northern hemisphere), but it rests north and south as it reaches the zenith in midsummer. By December it has reached the slope in the west, and now assuming an upright position, descends majestically to the horizon. This descent is quite effective, especially at the moment when the pale orange star, which rests at its base, lightly touches a mountain range etched in the distance or the edge of a far-reaching plain. This