In the Silence / Lee Wilson Dodd

In the Silence


Here at the hill-top. . rest. . tranquillity. Hush; do not move; draw deep This breath of freedom, which is never free, Because we may not keep The pureness and the silence and the calm, The soul-anointing balm Like to a waking sleep.

O, hush; speak low. . Linger a moment ere you rise to go. This moment that is yours, this waif of rest Quieting now your breast, Think that it will not follow as you pass Down to the populous places from the grass Of this fair slope; The ever-narrowing scope Of your calm vision must narrow too this sense Of world-pervading peace, immutable, im- mense. . This harvest-tide of hope.

O, hush; a little longer. . nay, the dream Mirrored an instant on the moving stream Of circumstance, Who shall withhold, restrain? The unsummoned chance Who shall recall again?