Christina Rossetti

Golden Silences

There is silence that saith, "Ah me!"

There is silence that nothing saith;

One the silence of life forlorn,

One the silence of death;

One is, and the other shall be.

 

One we know and have known for long,

One we know not, but we shall know,

All we who have ever been born;

Even so, be it so,--

There is silence, despite a song.

 

Sowing day is a silent day,

Resting night is a silent night;

But whoso reaps the ripened corn

Shall shout in his delight,

While silences vanish away.