Silences by Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy. Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. 1895. A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Silences

Arthur William Edgar O’Shaughnessy (1844–81)


’T IS a world of silences. I gave a cry
In the first sorrow my heart could not withstand;
I saw men pause, and listen, and look sad,
As though no answer in their hearts they had;
Some turn’d away, some came and took my hand,	5
For all reply.

I stood beside a grave. Years had pass’d by;
Sick with unanswer’d life I turn’d to death,
And whisper’d all my question to the grave,
And watch’d the flowers desolately wave,	10
And grass stir on it with a fitful breath,
For all reply.

I rais’d my eyes to heaven; my prayer went high
Into the luminous mystery of the blue;
My thought of God was purer than a flame,	15
And God it seem’d a little nearer came,
Then pass’d; and greater still the silence grew,
For all reply.

But you! If I can speak before I die,
I spoke to you with all my soul, and when	20
I look at you ’t is still my soul you see.
Oh, in your heart was there no word for me?
All would have answer’d had you answer’d then
With even a sigh.