There's silence in the holy place
Where sits the Holiest on the Throne;
And silence in the unmeasured space
Where silver stars go pacing on,
Eternally, eternally.
Around Him moves the universe;
Earth only breaks the harmony
With her discordant curse.
Sad Earth! whose music breaks in moans
Against the crystal of the sky--
Poor Earth! to have but bitter groans
Wherewith to make reply.
All silently, all silently,
Upon thee fall the light and dew;
God sends His blessings unto thee--
Alas! His judgments too.
Now wherefore is the constant strife?
And wherefore is the ceaseless moan?
Why does the dust of our low life
Rise up in clouds before the Throne?
Uncesingly, unceasingly,
We vex His patience with our prayers;
For Him to rise and work, we cry,
Impatient that He spares.
For Him to work! His chariot-wheels
Pause never in their onward way;
Even now before Him Error reels;
And yet we charge Him with delay!
All silently, all silently,
He breaks the yoke, He gives the meed.
Calmly, for His eternity
Hath time for any deed.
I think it is that we are weak;
Our life so short, so faint our breath;
We find the feeble words we speak
Strike blankly on the shore of death.
And yet they live eternally,
They echo on a far-off shore;
O mortals! know your destiny!
Speak hopeless words no more!
God's great hereafter lieth bright
Beyond life's valley, death's abyss;
And triumph crowns the perfect right
Wherewith that world doth compass this
In silence His eternity
Flows round our little isle of life;
There's room for calm in that great sea--
With us, for only strife.
