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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


BUT FOR HIM by EDWARD ROWLAND SILL

First Line: DUMB AND STILL WAS THE HEART OF MAN
Last Line: "WE HAD NOT KNOWN BUT ALL WAS WELL!"

DUMB and still was the heart of man
By the river of Time:
Far it stretched, and wide and free,
This rapid river; on it ran,
Through many a land and many a clime,
On and on, and no tide turned,
Down and down to Eternity.

Dumb and still -- but the man's heart yearned
For a voice to break the silence long;
And there by the side of the heart of man
Stood the spirit of Song.

Then the waves laughed
Down the river of Time;
And the west wind and the south wind sang,
And the world was glad,
For now it had
A voice to utter, in jocund chime,
The joy it quaffed
From the river of Time.

But when the song grew low and sad,
The trees drooped,
The flowers were dim,
And a dark cloud down from heaven stooped;
The wind mourned, and tear-drops fell;
And the world cried, grieving, "But for him
We had not known but all was well!"



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