| Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22. | | | | The Inner Silence | | By Harriet Monroe |
| | | NOISES that strive to tear | |
| Earth’s mantle soft of air | |
| And break upon the stillness where it dwells: | |
| The noise of battle and the noise of prayer, | |
| The cooing noise of love that softly tells | 5 |
| Joy’s brevity, the brazen noise of laughter— | |
| All these affront me not, nor echo after | |
| Through the long memories. | |
| They may not enter the deep chamber where | |
| Forever silence is. | 10 |
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| Silence more soft than spring hides in the ground | |
| Beneath her budding flowers; | |
| Silence more rich than ever was the sound | |
| Of harps through long warm hours. | |
| It’s like a hidden vastness, even as though | 15 |
| Great suns might there beat out their measures slow, | |
| Nor break the hush mightier than they. | |
| There do I dwell eternally, | |
| There where no thought may follow me, | |
| Nor stillest dreams whose pinions plume the way. | 20 | | | |
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