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 hyaena, 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