last completeness

Since I lost you, I am silence-haunted; 

    Sounds wave their little wings 

A moment, then in weariness settle 

    On the flood that soundless swings. 

 

Whether the people in the street 

    Like pattering-ripples go by, 

Or whether the theatre sighs and sighs 

    With a loud, hoarse sigh: 

 

Or the wind shakes a ravel of light 

    Over the dead-black river, 

Or last night's echoings 

    Make the daybreak shiver: 

 

I feel the silence waiting 

    To sip them all up again, 

In its last completeness drinking 

    Down the noise of men. 

 

[D.H. Lawrence {1885-1930} 'Silence' - in the public domain]