IN A GARDEN

A twilight peace droops tenderly,

The discords of the day depart,

And through the hush there comes to be

A harmony within the heart;

And waking to the quivering strings

Spirits are touched to finer things.

Sweet hand-fast silences of eve,

When love's supremest note is heard

In symphonies the spirits weave

Beyond the need of mortal word,

O! may we keep your music when

We pace the noisy haunts of men.

Give us the strength for daily stress

Of toil about the busy world;

Give us a balm to bitterness

From wounds when cruel shafts are hurled;

And give us courage in a sense

Of Love's divine omnipotence.

For Life can never lonely be

Since Love has broken all the bars

That stayed the soul from unity

With Heaven and its ten thousand stars,

Whose music falls sublimely grand

Through silences of hand in hand.