17. Valley of Silence. Fiona MacLeod (William Sharp). Modern British Poetry

Louis Untermeyer, ed. (1885–1977). Modern British Poetry. 1920.

Fiona MacLeod (William Sharp). 1855–1905

17. The Valley of Silence

IN the secret Valley of Silence
No breath doth fall;
No wind stirs in the branches;
No bird doth call:
As on a white wall	5
A breathless lizard is still,
So silence lies on the valley
Breathlessly still.

In the dusk-grown heart of the valley
An altar rises white:	10
No rapt priest bends in awe
Before its silent light:
But sometimes a flight
Of breathless words of prayer
White-wing'd enclose the altar,	15
Eddies of prayer.