Silence
A Sonnet
There are some qualities — some incorporate things
That have a double life — life aptly made,
The type of that twin entity which springs
From matter and light, evinced in solid and shade.
There is a two-fold Silence — sea and shore —
Body and soul. One dwells in lonely places,
Newly with grass o’ergrown. Some solemn graces —
Some human memories and tearful lore,
Render him terrorless — his name’s “No More.”
He is the corporate Silence — dread him not!
No power hath he of evil in himself;
But should some urgent fate — untimely lot!
Bring thee to meet his shadow (nameless elf,
Who haunteth the dim regions where hath trod
No foot of man) — commend thyself to God!
Edgar Allan Poe
Originally Published in 1840
Image by Edmund Dulac
