The Washington herald., 1907-12-25
THE OPTIMIST.

Silence There is "A magic restfulness
in the word After the clash Of swords.
the fell work Of poison. the cries Of
treason. and the work OF hate. we see
Hamlet on his golden throne sinking. al
most content. TO death. breathing loves
farewell 10 his dear friend Horatio, and
The rest is sBeace
II was the most fitting word the poet
could find 10 express the peace after
turmoil. the surcease Of pain, the end Of
aE
The heartacbes and the lis the aesh is heir to
i IS 50 seldom in the hurly-burly Of this
great world Of ours. this world so fun OF
the cries Of sorrow. OF urging on 10 work.
Of the voices Of lament, that we achieve
70 the blessedness Of silence. As Mary
Clemmer says:
OF an our loving Fathers gifts
often wonder which IS best-
And cTy; Dear God. the one that lifts
Our soul frCm weariness 20 rest.
The rest Il Sieucc-that is best
The martial poets Of an elder day used
70 have other ideals. They saw their
heroes perish in the clash and clang OF
battle; go down in the thick Of il when
life was at its height and the shouts Of
victory and the wan.ngs Of defeat
mingled with the voice OF human blood
which shrieks % heaven. and if the soul
Of the hero passed 20 heaven beyond ID
was 70 DE greeted there by martial
angels, stiH rgmultuOus and noisy. Why
even Arthur when he passed. does not
Tennyson tell us that as Arthur's barge
disappeared
Then from the dawn il seem there cau,e bst faint
A. from beyond the limit Of Gle world
Like the ias- echo barn q a great en-
sounds. as II -1nle fair c-ty were ore toies
Around a ElEg returning from bis wars.
The old axiom that speech is silver,
silence IS golden" is tr.te nowadays and
Ike most truisms We give il little heed
And yet there is a world 1f truth ia h.
u IS In silence that the best tnoug IS
come % Us ard are worked by mind and
heart into speech TT % be- formulated II
is in silence virtue works and helps US
nt ourselves 10 live better. n0bler. more
useful lives. Heine. indeed. declared taai
silence ls The essential condition O.
happiness, and sure enough 10 is thai
only in silence we may hope % hear
the whisper OF the gods.
l think, perhaps. that love was never
yet better expressed than through silence
Have Tot the poets OF the world written
their sweetest dearest songs on this
theme: and who, Of all OF them. has ex-
pressed il yet? Why. even Irs Brown
ing. who wrote from heart surcharce5
with love and who begged Aer lover
husband t0
Say ovc- again. and get once ever again
That ttou tost love mes
Had AT the end 20 cry:
only miuciug. dear.
To l0ve ne also in sl.grce WITH tly s1u-
II seems there are no words comparable
70 Silence. IL seems 10 the tired soul "a
signify all there is Of rest and peace
that peace OF God that passeth al under
standiug-aH there Is OF beauty and hOIi-
ness and the quiet places haunted by
pure souls. And IL is so rare a thing
Sometimes on the mountain tOp you snail
md it. II you aye very good. or some
times when GOD sends q hush over the
bosom Of the great deep and YOU have
trusted yourself % her. and are alone with
The waste of waters and tine stars thai
with their eternal voices speak VITA such
an eloquent appeal 90 all thar is bes
within the spirit,
To get away from noise from speech
20 pass into The vale % sileuce-is 10 b
reaching nearer God: % De breathing
rarer purer atmosphere. for.
Gods poet is SIcacr, His song is rnsp0seu.
And yet So profound. So locd and Sd far
II lis yCu % thrill, y0u. with measures ULhTCseu
And as soft. and rs fair and as far as a star