We do not know this thing By the spoken word: It is as though in a dim wood One heard a bird Suddenly sing: Then, in the twinkling of an eye A shadow glooms the earth and sky, And we stand silent, startled, in a changed mood. It is but a little thing The leaping sword, When in the startled silence of changed mood It comes as when a bird Doth suddenly sing. But thrust of sword or agony of soul Are alike swift and terrible and strong, And no foot stirs the dead leaves of that silent wood. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MARTHY VIRGINIA'S HAND [SEPTEMBER 17, 1862] by GEORGE PARSONS LATHROP AN EARNEST SUIT [TO HIS UNKIND MISTRESS NOT TO FORESAKE HIM] by THOMAS WYATT L'EAU DORMANTE by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH THE TELLTALE by ELIZABETH AKERS ALLEN |