“Shadow, Silence And The Sea” by G. C. Swinburne

“Shadow, Silence And The Sea” by G. C. Swinburne

Ail night long, in the world of sleep,

Skies and waters were soft and deep;

Shadow closed them, and silence made

Soundless music of dream and shade:

All above us, the livelong night,

Shadow, kindled with sense of light,

All around us, the brief night long,

Silence, laden with sense of song.

Stars and mountains without we knew,

Watched and waited, the soft night through;

Thrilled the touch of the sea’s breath near:

All unheard, but alive like sound,

Throbbed the sense of the sea’s life round:

Round us, near us, in depth and height,

Soft as darkness and keen as light.