Henry Wadsworth Longfellow — The Three Silences of Molinos

Three Silences there are: the first of speech,        &nbsp The second of desire, the third of thought;        &nbsp This is the lore a Spanish monk, distraught        &nbsp With dreams and visions, was the first to teach. These Silences, commingling each with each,        &nbsp Made up the perfect Silence, that he sought        &nbsp And prayed for, and wherein at times he caught        &nbsp Mysterious sounds from realms beyond our reach. O thou, whose daily life anticipates        &nbsp The life to come, and in whose thought and word        &nbsp The spiritual world preponderates. Hermit of Amesbury! thou too hast heard        &nbsp Voices and melodies from beyond the gates,        &nbsp And speakest only when thy soul is stirred!