Ephrem Syrus, who has been called "the Cithern of the Holy Spirit," was the greatest teacher of his time in the Syrian Church, as well as her most gifted hymnist.
"The Story of Our Hymns"
Ernest Edwin Ryden
She held a little Cithern by the strings, Shaped heartwise, strung with subtle-coloured hair Of some dead lute-player That in dead years had done delicious things.
"Poems & Ballads (First Series)"
Algernon Charles Swinburne
The Cithern lay unmolested on the couch, the rich curtains were drawn; everything was as he had left it last-everything, but the pretty pink figure, with drooping eyes, and pearls in the waves of her rich, black hair.
"The Midnight Queen"
May Agnes Fleming