SILENCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3853, 17 January 1928, Page 74

SILENCE.

Ihe whom I seek? , Ono lovelier than beauty Rarer than rapture, muted as a sigh, Timid as spray that flees from falling water, Hushed as the moon that dreams along the sky. She oan' be startled by a tired petal Drifting in perfume to it 3 lovely sleep, She will draw back if snowflakes clash in

falling, Or stately tides turn, chanting, to the deep. All quiet things find sanctuary with her; Night, and the clouds, the cedars’ ancient hush, Lost lakes that sleep forgotten in dhe moonlight, . Hilltops that hoard the sunset's fading flush Silence her name is, and th e limpid cadence Echoes the chiming music of her eyes, Silence, whose touch is comforting as shadow, Silence, whose look is starry as the ekies. When ehe is near, rapt memories come floating Like silver moths across a summer dusk, While down the. wind there stirs a far-off fragrance Of mignonette and rosemary and musk. Only with her will you hear long-stilled

voices, Tender with love and crowning with sweet

praise,Or catch the rolling drums that beat to

duty Through anguished nights, or dull but dauntless days. Only with ner there moves that sister shadow, Friendly, yet strange, familiar, yet unknown, Whose eyes you seek in troubled contem-

plation, Till, faltering, you know them for your own!

So keep I watch for her, my best companion, Where, on the roads of time, she wanders by • Timid spray that flees from falling water, Hushed a-s the moon that dreams along the sky. —Marie Blake, in the Atlantic Monthly.