 | Poems Chiefly Lyric and Elegiac |  |
36
SPEECH AND SILENCE.
In the fresh and fragrant morning,
In the gay and golden noon,
In the glory of the sunset,
When a mild and mellow moon
In the gay and golden noon,
In the glory of the sunset,
When a mild and mellow moon
Rises fair above the ocean,
Sends a soft and shimmering light
O'er the waves that slowly darken
Into twilight, into night;
Sends a soft and shimmering light
O'er the waves that slowly darken
Into twilight, into night;
In the music of the waters,
Of the breezes, of the birds,
There is surely something better
Than the sweetest, daintiest words!
Of the breezes, of the birds,
There is surely something better
Than the sweetest, daintiest words!
37
No! For these are merely Nature;
Soulless Nature, soulless Earth:
None indeed who see or hear them
Doubt their beauty and their worth;
Soulless Nature, soulless Earth:
None indeed who see or hear them
Doubt their beauty and their worth;
Still, they all are only symbols;
Every one is but a sign
Pointing through the nobler senses
Towards some vision more divine.
Every one is but a sign
Pointing through the nobler senses
Towards some vision more divine.
It is Speech, that shows us greater
Than the things we see around:
Speech, the utterance of a spirit
Melted into moulds of sound;
Than the things we see around:
Speech, the utterance of a spirit
Melted into moulds of sound;
Speech, whereby of all the creatures
We alone have leave to tell
Something of the soul within us
To the souls with whom we dwell.
We alone have leave to tell
Something of the soul within us
To the souls with whom we dwell.
Ah, but who will give us voices
Fit for all our souls could say?
Who can pour the human spirit
Fully into shapes of clay?
Fit for all our souls could say?
Who can pour the human spirit
Fully into shapes of clay?
38
Not the preacher, not the poet,
Not the fluent nor the wise;
Not the lips of lovers, aided
By the looks of lovers' eyes.
Not the fluent nor the wise;
Not the lips of lovers, aided
By the looks of lovers' eyes.
But within the starry heavens,
Always moving, always still,
And among our quiet pastures,
And upon each lonely hill,
Always moving, always still,
And among our quiet pastures,
And upon each lonely hill,
And on every lake and river
Gliding noiseless to the sea,
Something more than speech, and fuller,
Stands reveal'd to you and me.
Gliding noiseless to the sea,
Something more than speech, and fuller,
Stands reveal'd to you and me.
'Tis the sacred realm of Silence:
Silence is the womb of thought;
There our happiest words are fashion'd,
There our holiest deeds are wrought.
Silence is the womb of thought;
There our happiest words are fashion'd,
There our holiest deeds are wrought.
Silence is the soul's dominion,
Uncontrollable and vast;
Still prolific, overflowing
With the Future and the Past.
Uncontrollable and vast;
Still prolific, overflowing
With the Future and the Past.
39
Silent are the worlds above us;
Silent is the churchyard sod;
Silent ever are our footfalls
On the paths that lead to God.
Silent is the churchyard sod;
Silent ever are our footfalls
On the paths that lead to God.
| Poems Chiefly Lyric and Elegiac | |