FROM the Pier's head, musing, and with increase Of wonder, I have watched this sea-side Town, Under the white cliff's battlemented crown, Hushed to a depth of more than Sabbath peace: The streets and quays are thronged, but why disown Their natural utterance: whence this strange release From social noise -- silence elsewhere unknown? -- A Spirit whispered, "Let all wonder cease; Ocean's o'erpowering murmurs have set free Thy sense from pressure of life's common din; As the dread Voice that speaks from out the sea Of God's eternal Word, the Voice of Time Doth deaden, shocks of tumult, shrieks of crime The shouts of folly, and the groans of sin." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EPITAPH by LASCELLES ABERCROMBIE OBERMANN ONCE MORE by MATTHEW ARNOLD UPON THE DEATH OF THE LORD HASTINGS by JOHN DRYDEN AN AUGUST MIDNIGHT by THOMAS HARDY EPIGRAM by DECIMUS MAGNUS AUSONIUS THE SILKWORM by VINCENT BOURNE SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE: 7 by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING THE WEST WIND by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT ENTERTAINMENT GIVEN BY LORD KNOWLES: SONG OF THREE VOICES by THOMAS CAMPION |