--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: O harp of life, so speedily unstrung!" description: "\"O harp of life, so speedily unstrung!\" — Thomas Bailey Aldrich" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/510/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_harp_o-harp-of-life-so-speedily-unstrung-2856_2856736.png" --- # O harp of life, so speedily unstrung! ![“O harp of life, so speedily unstrung!” quote by Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/510/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_harp_o-harp-of-life-so-speedily-unstrung-2856_2856736.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/510/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_harp_o-harp-of-life-so-speedily-unstrung-2856_2856736.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/510/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_harp_o-harp-of-life-so-speedily-unstrung-2856_2856736.png) > “O harp of life, so speedily unstrung!” [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life’s harmony unravels quickly, likened to a harp whose strings snap. **In simple terms:** Life can fall apart fast. Key Takeaway Accept impermanence and adapt. Themes philosophy impermanence music Mood somber contemplative Type poetic metaphorical When to use this quote - personal loss - artistic creation - stress management Key Concepts transience creative metaphor Questions to Reflect On - What “strings” in your life feel loosened? - How do you restore harmony after disruption? A Different Perspective May romanticize chaos. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Harp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harp/) [Harp Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harp-life-3832466/) [Harps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harps/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Speedily](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-speedily-3832468/) [Speedily Unstrung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speedily-unstrung-3832465/) [Unstrung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unstrung-3832467/) ## Related quotes > ["Stuffed and Unstrung" started as a workshop, actually, classes within our company. We found that our puppeteers were not ad libbing as well as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-henson/stuffed-and-unstrung-started-as-a-workshop-actually-classes-within/) [Brian Henson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-henson/) > [(As a boy) I was listening to Sonny Boy Williamson's (I) records and I would close my eyes and I could visualize myself playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junior-wells/as-a-boy-i-was-listening-to-sonny-boy-williamson-s-i-records-and-i/) [Junior Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junior-wells/) > [I recorded harp first or singing first. I recorded it all together. Part of the reason is that I don't know how to play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-newsom/i-recorded-harp-first-or-singing-first-i-recorded-it-all-together/) [Joanna Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-newsom/) > [Fro and to in my dreams to you To the haunting tune of the harp For the price I paid when you died that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/fro-and-to-in-my-dreams-to-you-to-the-haunting-tune-of-the-harp-for/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [The harp sounds at each passing breeze, but that does not mean the tune is masterfully played.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/the-harp-sounds-at-each-passing-breeze-but-that-does-not-mean-the/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [Go ye, who rest so placidly upon the sacred Bard who had been young, and when he strung his harp was old, and had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/go-ye-who-rest-so-placidly-upon-the-sacred-bard-who-had-been-young/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There's something fundamental to the harp that has retained its appeal my whole life. It's an instrument I am just in love with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-newsom/there-s-something-fundamental-to-the-harp-that-has-retained-its/) [Joanna Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-newsom/) > [It's defeatist to harp on what might have been, and yet, it's hard to resist considering what might have been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/it-s-defeatist-to-harp-on-what-might-have-been-and-yet-it-s-hard-to/) [Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/) > [I didn't sing for years and years, but I started playing harp when I was maybe 9 or 10. I had actually wanted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-newsom/i-didn-t-sing-for-years-and-years-but-i-started-playing-harp-when-i/) [Joanna Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-newsom/) > [“My music teacher offered twittering madrigals and something about how, in Italy, in Italy, the oranges hang on the tree. He treated me -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-rose-o-reilley/my-music-teacher-offered-twittering-madrigals-and-something-about-how/) [Mary Rose O'Reilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-rose-o-reilley/) > [Two touch the string, The harp is dumb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/two-touch-the-string-the-harp-is-dumb/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [During the reign of Rameses III (the Twentieth Dynasty) Egypt saw a flowering of its civilization and the harp became the royal instrument of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corinne-heline/during-the-reign-of-rameses-iii-the-twentieth-dynasty-egypt-saw-a/) [Corinne Heline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corinne-heline/) > [I am producing sounds that people are not used to hearing from the harp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-newsom/i-am-producing-sounds-that-people-are-not-used-to-hearing-from-the/) [Joanna Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-newsom/) > [Nature is an aeolian harp, a musical instrument whose tones are the re-echo of higher strings within us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/novalis/nature-is-an-aeolian-harp-a-musical-instrument-whose-tones-are-the-re/) [Novalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/novalis/) > [The willow tree plays the water like a harp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-n-g-mez-de-la-serna/the-willow-tree-plays-the-water-like-a-harp/) [Ramon Gomez de la Serna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-n-g-mez-de-la-serna/) ## More by Thomas Bailey Aldrich > [No bird has ever uttered note That was not in some first bird's throat; Since Eden's freshness and man's fall No rose has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/no-bird-has-ever-uttered-note-that-was-not-in-some-first-bird-s/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [There is no man at once so unselfish and selfish as a man in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/there-is-no-man-at-once-so-unselfish-and-selfish-as-a-man-in-love/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [I have frequently noticed how circumstances conspire to help a man, or a boy, when he has thoroughly resolved on doing a thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/i-have-frequently-noticed-how-circumstances-conspire-to-help-a-man-or/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Everywhere on the Continent, the tourist is looked upon as a bird to be plucked, and presently the bird himself feebly comes to regard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/everywhere-on-the-continent-the-tourist-is-looked-upon-as-a-bird-to/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Imagine all human beings swept off the face of the earth, excepting one man. Imagine this man in some vast city, New York or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/imagine-all-human-beings-swept-off-the-face-of-the-earth-excepting/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [The possession of gold has ruined fewer men than the lack of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/the-possession-of-gold-has-ruined-fewer-men-than-the-lack-of-it/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [“..Fell over the prostrate steersman, and there we all lay in a heep, two or three of us quite picturesque with the nosebleed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/fell-over-the-prostrate-steersman-and-there-we-all-lay-in-a-heep-two/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [A man should have duties outside of himself; without them, he is a mere balloon, inflated with thin egotism and drifting nowhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/a-man-should-have-duties-outside-of-himself-without-them-he-is-a-mere/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Great thoughts in crude, unshapely verse set forth lose half their preciousness, and ever must, unless the diamond with its own rich dust be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/great-thoughts-in-crude-unshapely-verse-set-forth-lose-half-their/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [So I sit there kicked my heels, thinking about New Orleans, and watching a morbid blue-bottle fly attempt to commit suicide by butting his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/so-i-sit-there-kicked-my-heels-thinking-about-new-orleans-and/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [What is more cheerful, now, in the fall of the year, than an open-wood-fire? Do you hear those little chirps and twitters coming out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/what-is-more-cheerful-now-in-the-fall-of-the-year-than-an-open-wood/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Decoration Day is the most beautiful of our national holidays… The grim cannon have turned into palm branches, and the shell and shrapnel into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/decoration-day-is-the-most-beautiful-of-our-national-holidays-the/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Famous old houses seem to have an intuitive perception of the value of corner lots. If it is a possible thing, they always set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/famous-old-houses-seem-to-have-an-intuitive-perception-of-the-value/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [Every man has within himself a gold mine whose riches are limited only by his own industry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/every-man-has-within-himself-a-gold-mine-whose-riches-are-limited/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) > [The fate of the worm refutes the pretended ethical teaching of the proverb, which assumes to illustrate the advantage of early rising and does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/the-fate-of-the-worm-refutes-the-pretended-ethical-teaching-of-the/) [Thomas Bailey Aldrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) [Explore all 116 Thomas Bailey Aldrich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/) ## More Harp quotes > [(As a boy) I was listening to Sonny Boy Williamson's (I) records and I would close my eyes and I could visualize myself playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junior-wells/as-a-boy-i-was-listening-to-sonny-boy-williamson-s-i-records-and-i/) [Junior Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junior-wells/) > [We've got a great team sport, but we harp on about individuals. It's a bit contradictory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alun-wyn-jones/we-ve-got-a-great-team-sport-but-we-harp-on-about-individuals-it-s-a/) [Alun Wyn Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alun-wyn-jones/) > [Nature is an aeolian harp, a musical instrument whose tones are the re-echo of higher strings within us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/novalis/nature-is-an-aeolian-harp-a-musical-instrument-whose-tones-are-the-re/) [Novalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/novalis/) > [I am producing sounds that people are not used to hearing from the harp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-newsom/i-am-producing-sounds-that-people-are-not-used-to-hearing-from-the/) [Joanna Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-newsom/) > [During the reign of Rameses III (the Twentieth Dynasty) Egypt saw a flowering of its civilization and the harp became the royal instrument of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corinne-heline/during-the-reign-of-rameses-iii-the-twentieth-dynasty-egypt-saw-a/) [Corinne Heline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corinne-heline/) > [Two touch the string, The harp is dumb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/two-touch-the-string-the-harp-is-dumb/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Strike, with hand of fire, O weird musician, thy harp strung with Apollo's golden hair; fill the vast cathedral aisles with symphonies sweet and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-g-ingersoll/strike-with-hand-of-fire-o-weird-musician-thy-harp-strung-with-apollo/) [Robert G. Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-g-ingersoll/) > [“My music teacher offered twittering madrigals and something about how, in Italy, in Italy, the oranges hang on the tree. He treated me -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-rose-o-reilley/my-music-teacher-offered-twittering-madrigals-and-something-about-how/) [Mary Rose O'Reilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-rose-o-reilley/) > [I didn't sing for years and years, but I started playing harp when I was maybe 9 or 10. I had actually wanted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-newsom/i-didn-t-sing-for-years-and-years-but-i-started-playing-harp-when-i/) [Joanna Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-newsom/) > [It's defeatist to harp on what might have been, and yet, it's hard to resist considering what might have been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/it-s-defeatist-to-harp-on-what-might-have-been-and-yet-it-s-hard-to/) [Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/) > [“He finally took his harp out of the cobwebs, walked out the door, and admitted who he was: the Unforgiven.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-a-mckillip/he-finally-took-his-harp-out-of-the-cobwebs-walked-out-the-door-and/) [Patricia A. McKillip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-a-mckillip/) > [There's something fundamental to the harp that has retained its appeal my whole life. It's an instrument I am just in love with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-newsom/there-s-something-fundamental-to-the-harp-that-has-retained-its/) [Joanna Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-newsom/) > [“It’s a shameful indictment of the shabby way we live nowadays, but we have to face the fact that most of you won’t have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-powell/it-s-a-shameful-indictment-of-the-shabby-way-we-live-nowadays-but-we/) [John Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-powell/) > [Go ye, who rest so placidly upon the sacred Bard who had been young, and when he strung his harp was old, and had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/go-ye-who-rest-so-placidly-upon-the-sacred-bard-who-had-been-young/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [The harp sounds at each passing breeze, but that does not mean the tune is masterfully played.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/the-harp-sounds-at-each-passing-breeze-but-that-does-not-mean-the/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) [Browse all 95 Harp quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harp/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "O harp of life, so speedily unstrung!", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Bailey Aldrich" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/o-harp-of-life-so-speedily-unstrung/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Harp" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/o-harp-of-life-so-speedily-unstrung/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/510/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_harp_o-harp-of-life-so-speedily-unstrung-2856_2856736.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/510/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_harp_o-harp-of-life-so-speedily-unstrung-2856_2856736.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/510/thomas-bailey-aldrich-4098_harp_o-harp-of-life-so-speedily-unstrung-2856_2856736.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“O harp of life, so speedily unstrung!” — Thomas Bailey Aldrich", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Thomas Bailey Aldrich", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bailey-aldrich/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "O harp of life, so speedily...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/o-harp-of-life-so-speedily-unstrung/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bailey-aldrich/o-harp-of-life-so-speedily-unstrung/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```