Silence

THERE is a silence where hath been no sound/There is a silence where no sound may be/In the cold grave under the deep, deep sea/Or in wide desert where no life is found/Which hath been mute, and still must sleep profound/No voice is hush'd no life treads silently/But clouds and cloudy shadows wander free/That never spoke, over the idle ground/But in green ruins, in the desolate walls/Of antique palaces, where Man hath been/Though the dun fox or wild hyæna calls/And owls, that flit continually between/Shriek to the echo, and the low winds moan/There the true/Silence is, self-conscious and alone. (Thomas Hood)