Noon

CHARMED into silence lay
The forest, dimly lil;
No wind that summer day
Moved the least leaf of it:

No choric branches stirred
Its calm profound and deep,
Nor voice of any bird,
But silence dreamed like sleep.

Like dew upon the grass
It fell upon my soul:
Loosed it to soar and pass
Beyond the stars’ control.

Vague memories it woke,
Shapes far too frail for touch;
And then the silence broke:
Lest I should learn too much.