University of Virginia Library


229

July 11 NOT WITH WORDS

Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.”—Zech. ii. 13.

There is a time for Silence, when is won
The glory and the vision,
And face to face the Father meets the son
In faith's full clear decision;
Speech were profane at such an hour, when earth
Seems like a leaf to flutter,
And love has cast round it and Heaven a girth
Of joy it cannot utter.
There is a time for Silence, as we first
Stand in the Presence Holy,
While God reveals the truth for which we thirst
And wheels of life go slowly;
When we who gather at the solemn Feast
See that dear Body broken,
The Precious Blood's outpouring for the least—
O what could then be spoken?
There is a time for Silence, and to keep
Watch just at prayer's white portal,
Betwixt the rose of sunrise and the deep
Full light of the immortal;
Then humblest words were vain and all unfit
The breath of one petition,
When on the border of the Infinite
We wait the last transition.