I am afraid of silence. I am afraid Of my own soul. I am afraid of hearing A voice -- one voice above all voices -- made Clear in the silence. I shall grow old fearing This silence that goes with me wherever I go. I cannot keep it in or bar it out. Always within, around, above, below, It beats upon me. I am hedged about Most utterly. Surrounded. Yet I raise Even now a futile barrier of sound Against the voice in silence I dispraise, Against the voice I dread that hems me round; To which, did I but listen, I should be Afraid of nothing. Nothing could frighten me. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON LADY POLTAGRUE: A PUBLIC PERIL by HILAIRE BELLOC DOMESDAY BOOK: HENRY BAKER, AT NEW YORK by EDGAR LEE MASTERS MR. HOUSMAN'S MESSAGE by EZRA POUND THE CLOISTER by ISAAC ROSENBERG THE POET (2) by ISAAC ROSENBERG HYBRIDS OF WAR: A MORALITY POEM: 4. THE MORAL by KAREN SWENSON |