Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THERE IS NO QUIET by BERNICE LESBIA KENYON

First Line: THERE IS NO QUIET SINCE YOU LEFT THE EARTH
Last Line: THERE IS NO QUIET SINCE YOU LEFT THE EARTH.
Subject(s): DEATH; WELLESLEY COLLEGE; DEAD, THE;

THERE is no quiet since you left the earth;
But ever runs a sound among the trees,
The wind calls, and the far and level plains
Send back their ceaseless echoes to the sky.
And even shut into my narrow room,
Far from the noise of wind and moaning wave,
And where no voices are, I hear the dark
Murmuring to the shadow, and the light
Send little pointed shafts of silver speech
Along the wall. . . . The blood beats in my ears
And shapes itself to words: "He is not here!"
And calls again: "He is not in this place,
But he is gone . . . Is gone. . . ."
When you were here
I used to love the evening silences,
When words, and even bare unspoken speech,
Were not, but only perfect quietness. . . .
There is no quiet since you left the earth.



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