In the strange city of Life Two houses I know well: One wherein Silence a garden hath, And one where Dark doth dwell. Roof unto roof they stand, Shadowing the dizzied street, Where Vanity flaunts her gilded booths In the noontide glare and heat. Green-graped upon their walls An ancient, hoary vine Hath clustered their carven, lichenous stones With tendril serpentine. And ever and anon, Dazed in that clamorous throng, I thirst for the soundless fount that stills Those orchards mute of song. Knock, knock, nor knock in vain: Heart all thy secrets tell Where Silence a fast-sealed garden hath, Where Dark doth dwell. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CINQUAIN: AMAZE by ADELAIDE CRAPSEY THE GRASSHOPPER; TO MY NOBLE FRIEND MR. CHARLES COTTON by RICHARD LOVELACE ISAAC AND ARCHIBALD by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON POEMS ON THE SLAVE TRADE: 6 by ROBERT SOUTHEY THE LAY OF THE OLD WOMAN CLOTHED IN GREY; A LEGEND OF DOVER by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM |