Walter Murdoch (1874–1970). The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse. 1918.

80. The Silence of Love

I COULD praise you once with beautiful words ere you came

And entered my life with love in a wind of flame.

I could lure with a song from afar my bird to its nest,

But with pinions drooping together silence is best.

In the land of beautiful silence the winds are laid,

And life grows quietly one in the cloudy shade.

I will not waken the passion that sleeps in the heart,

For the winds that blew us together may blow us apart.

Fear not the stillness; for doubt and despair shall cease

With the gentle voices guiding us into peace.

Our dreams will change as they pass through the gates of gold,

And Quiet, the tender shepherd, shall keep the fold.