Time was when worlds were not swung in space;
Time is, when this year’s New Year’s masque ye see;
And Time goes on when worlds have stopped their race;

Past.
Before the moon disclosed her face;
Before the earth began her race;
Before the Sun took up his place-
Ere than I was eternally!

Present.
In throb of brain; in beat of heart;
In thrill of sense, by nature’s art;
In meeting moments ere they part-
Therein am I eternally!

Future.
Beyond man’s certain day of doom
When earth and sun have found one tomb;
When stars for other stars make room-
I shall be there eternally!

Time was, Time is and time shall be
Eternally! Eternally!

I HAVE known the silence of the stars and of the sea,
And the silence of the city when it pauses,
And the silence of a man and a maid,
And the silence of the sick
When their eyes roam about the room.
And I ask: For the depths,
Of what use is language?
A beast of the field moans a few times
When death takes its young.
And we are voiceless in the presence of realities—
We cannot speak.