ADORATION

Ah, if you worship anything,

In deepest hush of silence bend

The lone adoring knee,

And only silence bring

Into the sanctuary.

Trust not the fairest word

Your soul to wrong:

Even the Rose's bird

Hath not a song

Sweet as the silence

Round about the Rose.

Ah, something goes,

Fails, and is lost in speech

That silence knows.

How should I speak

The hush about my heart

That holds your name

Shrined in a burning core

Of central flame,

Like names of seraphim

Mystically writ on cloud?

To speak your name aloud

Were to unhallow

Such a holy thing;

Therefore I bring

To your white feet

And your immortal eyes

Silence forever,

But in such a wise

Am silent as the quiet waters are,

Hiding some holy star

Amid hushed lilies

In a secret lake.

Ah, if a ripple break

The stillness halcyon —

The star is gone!