Ah, Silence!  An ocean to greet me
As broad and as flat as a sword
In perilous, unbroken accord
It has siphoned my senses completely
And left me bereft and deplored.
All sound has no sense in these days;
It is meaningless, empty, and cold.
What matters the bells being tolled,
What heed for my blame or my praise?
Though the roar of the thousands increase
And the mountains erupt and release
Nothing, however discreetly,
Cuts through the din of the peace.
I have loved you so long and so sweetly
And I ask for no earthly reward
Nor hope for my hearing restored
But pity me now to entreat thee
All I seek, my Love, is a Word:
In all of this nightmarish calm
But one thing the stillness outstrips,
Every echo on Earth I would trade for.
There is naught in this world such a balm
As my Name tripping out from your lips.
It is all my ears have been made for.

You need not love me to thrill me
My thrill has been bought and paid for.
If thou wouldst with splendor instill me
Speak softer, and speak it once more.