Silence Songtext
von R. S. Thomas

Silence

The relation between us was silence
That and the feeling of each one being watched by the other
I by an enormous pupil in a blank face
He by one in a million wanderers in the darkness
That was never a long way off from His presence

It had begun by my talking all of the time
Repeating the worn formulae of the churches
In the belief that was prayer
Why does silence suggest disapproval?
The prattling ceased
Not suddenly but as flowers die off in a frost


My requests thinned
I contented myself I was answering His deafness
With dumbness
My tongue lolled, clapper of a disused bell
That would never again pound on Him

What are the emotions of God?
There was no admiring of my restraint
No suggestion even of a recompense for my patience
If He had allowed Himself but one word
His name for instance, spoken ever so obliquely
My own that for all His majesty
Acknowledged my existence

And yet there were creatures around me with their ears pricked
Figures on ancient cathedrals, the denizens of art
With their rapt innocent faces and heads on one side
As though they were listening
Ah, but to whom?