Silence

It was in that hail-splattered silence, just before sleep overtook him, that he first thought that he might also be the last.

But now all the land was empty, and there was a silence that did not seem to be the quiet of peace.

The silence of a wrecked world and the forgetfulness of it all!

First there were some solemn ceremonies, proper and usual at such times; then, when there was silence again, the reading followed, penetrating the deep hush so that every word was heard in even the remotest parts of the house: “It is found, and is hereby declared, that Joan of Arc, called the Maid, is a good Christian and a good Catholic; that there is nothing in her person or her words contrary to the faith; and that the King may and ought to accept the succor she offers; for to repel it would be to offend the Holy Spirit, and render him unworthy of the air of God.” The court rose, and then the storm of plaudits burst forth unrebuked, dying down and bursting forth again and again, and I lost sight of Joan, for she was swallowed up in a great tide of people who rushed to congratulate her and pour out benedictions upon her and upon the cause of France, now solemnly and irrevocably delivered into her little hands.

Do not consider me now as an elegant female intending to plague you, but as a rational creature speaking the truth from her heart.” “You are uniformly charming!” cried he, with an air of awkward gallantry; “and I am persuaded that when sanctioned by the express authority of both your excellent parents, my proposals will not fail of being acceptable.” To such perseverance in wilful self-deception Elizabeth would make no reply, and immediately and in silence withdrew; determined, if he persisted in considering her repeated refusals as flattering encouragement, to apply to her father, whose negative might be uttered in such a manner as must be decisive, and whose behaviour at least could not be mistaken for the affectation and coquetry of an elegant female.

Then, above that tumid silence, there came a nagging song like the song of a gnat.

Please.” But old Stradlater kept snowing her in this Abraham Lincoln, sincere voice, and finally there’d be this terrific silence in the back of the car.

Where before there had been silence, now he heard: wind in the trees, Hodor’s breathing, the elk pawing at the ground in search of fodder.

The poetry of earth is ceasing never: On a lone winter evening, when the frost Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills The Cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever, And seems to one, in drowsiness half lost, The Grasshopper’s among some grassy hills.

“ ‘I showed them the path to glory, but they did not follow it,’ ” Prince Andréy continued after a short silence, again quoting Napoleon’s words.

In the bowels of Project Blue, there was silence.

Now, breaking the unnatural silence of a whole city, the executioner showed the people the head of the king—and now, it seemed almost in the same breath, the head of his fair wife which had had eight weary months of imprisoned widowhood and misery, to turn it grey.

“Sire, it could be he’s –” “Silence!” The Baron advanced another step into the antechamber, noting how the men moved back, clearing a subtle space around Nefud, dissociating themselves from the object of wrath.

Oh, and she’s afraid she’s going to be thrown off the Ravenclaw Quidditch team because she’s been flying so badly.”A slightly stunned silence greeted the end of this speech, then Ron said, “One person can’t feel all that at once, they’d explode.”“Just because you’ve got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn’t mean we all have,” said Hermione nastily, picking up her quill again.“She was the one who started it,” said Harry.

“You are a mother, you know what love requires on behalf of your family.” Margarethe says, pompously, “Obedience and silence.” Caspar says, “Charity, and a cudgel about the shoulders from time to time.” The Master being gone, Margarethe allows herself to sit in the sun on the stoop next to Iris.

In the silence of the night, with that sense of the nearness of God that sometimes comes into the stillness and the darkness, I stood my trial, my only trial, for that moment of wrath and fear.

Before the night shut down she was seen with sails idly flapping as she gently rolled on the undulating swell of the sea, “As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean.” Shortly before ten o’clock the stillness of the air grew quite oppressive, and the silence was so marked that the bleating of a sheep inland or the barking of a dog in the town was distinctly heard, and the band on the pier, with its lively French air, was like a discord in the great harmony of nature’s silence.

One recent example I cannot pass over in silence.

For this reason I would seriously maintain that all the medical and surgical discoveries that science can make in the future will be of less importance than the application of the knowledge we already possess, when the disinherited of the earth have established their right to a human existence.” And here the Herr Doctor relapsed into silence again.

Proceed, auspicious prince, with glory crown’d, And born to better fates than I have found.” He said; and, while he said, his steps he turn’d To secret shadows, and in silence mourn’d.

The silence of the world could not rein back its greed.

I haven’t time.” There was a long and thoughtful silence … and then Pooh, who had been frowning very hard for some minutes, said: “I make it fifteen.” “What?” said Rabbit.

295 The genius of the heart, as that great mysterious one possesses it, the tempter-god and born rat-catcher of consciences, whose voice can descend into the netherworld of every soul, who neither speaks a word nor casts a glance in which there may not be some motive or touch of allurement, to whose perfection it pertains that he knows how to appear—not as he is, but in a guise which acts as an additional constraint on his followers to press ever closer to him, to follow him more cordially and thoroughly;—the genius of the heart, which imposes silence and attention on everything loud and self-conceited, which smoothes rough souls and makes them taste a new longing—to lie placid as a mirror, that the deep heavens may be reflected in them;—the genius of the heart, which teaches the clumsy and too hasty hand to hesitate, and to grasp more delicately; which scents the hidden and forgotten treasure, the drop of goodness and sweet spirituality under thick dark ice, and is a divining-rod for every grain of gold, long buried and imprisoned in mud and sand; the genius of the heart, from contact with which everyone goes away richer; not favoured or surprised, not as though gratified and oppressed by the good things of others; but richer in himself, newer than before, broken up, blown upon, and sounded by a thawing wind; more uncertain, perhaps, more delicate, more fragile, more bruised, but full of hopes which as yet lack names, full of a new will and current, full of a new ill-will and countercurrent … but what am I doing, my friends?

As the three boats lay there on that gently rolling sea, gazing down into its eternal blue noon; and as not a single groan or cry of any sort, nay, not so much as a ripple or a bubble came up from its depths; what landsman would have thought, that beneath all that silence and placidity, the utmost monster of the seas was writhing and wrenching in agony!

At his unexpected appearance there was a profound silence: no one dared to breathe.

What though in solemn silence all Move round this dark terrestrial ball What though no real voice, nor sound, Amidst their radiant orbs be found, In reason’s ear they all rejoice, And utter forth a glorious voice, Forever singing as they shine, The hand that made us is divine.17 What more does man want to know, than that the hand or power that made these things is divine, is omnipotent?

Dunk had nothing to say to that, so they rode in silence for a time, till Ser Eustace coughed, and said, "Ser Duncan, do you remember the story that I told you?"

He had taken the silence of the old man for a return to reason; and now these few words uttered by Faria, after so painful a crisis, seemed to indicate a serious relapse into mental alienation.

She sang like a little lark about her work, never was too tired to play for Marmee and the girls, and day after day said hopefully to herself, “I know I’ll get my music some time, if I’m good.” There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind.

Sometimes I went and climbed the mountain and stood there in the midst of the tall pines, all alone in the terrible silence, with our little village in the distance, and the sky so blue, and the sun so bright, and an old ruined castle on the mountainside, far away.

“Once,” said the Mock Turtle at last, with a deep sigh, “I was a real Turtle.” These words were followed by a very long silence, broken only by an occasional exclamation of “Hjckrrh!” from the Gryphon, and the constant heavy sobbing of the Mock Turtle.

Another silence ensued; then the Bishop went on:— “Madame Magloire, I have for a long time detained that silver wrongfully.

A slight fall of snow had obliterated all footmarks; and a deathly silence pervaded the island, as if for a space Nature stood still in horror of the recent carnage.

They flew in silence while Leo wondered if he’d done the right thing, sharing so much.

What everybody echoes or in silence passes by as true today may turn out to be falsehood tomorrow, mere smoke of opinion, which some had trusted for a cloud that would sprinkle fertilizing rain on their fields.

It was what the reviewers call “a slim volume.” He read at hazard: “… But silence and the topless dark Vault in the lights of Luna Park; And Blackpool from the nightly gloom Hollows a bright tumultuous tomb.” He put it down again, shook his head, and sighed.

Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night Vigil strange I kept on the field one night; When you my son and my comrade dropt at my side that day, One look I but gave which your dear eyes return’d with a look I shall never forget, One touch of your hand to mine O boy, reach’d up as you lay on the ground, Then onward I sped in the battle, the even-contested battle, Till late in the night reliev’d to the place at last again I made my way, Found you in death so cold dear comrade, found your body son of responding kisses, (never again on earth responding,) Bared your face in the starlight, curious the scene, cool blew the moderate night-wind, Long there and then in vigil I stood, dimly around me the battlefield spreading, Vigil wondrous and vigil sweet there in the fragrant silent night, But not a tear fell, not even a long-drawn sigh, long, long I gazed, Then on the earth partially reclining sat by your side leaning my chin in my hands, Passing sweet hours, immortal and mystic hours with you dearest comrade—not a tear, not a word, Vigil of silence, love and death, vigil for you my son and my soldier, As onward silently stars aloft, eastward new ones upward stole, Vigil final for you brave boy, (I could not save you, swift was your death, I faithfully loved you and cared for you living, I think we shall surely meet again,) Till at latest lingering of the night, indeed just as the dawn appear’d, My comrade I wrapt in his blanket, envelop’d well his form, Folded the blanket well, tucking it carefully over head and carefully under feet, And there and then and bathed by the rising sun, my son in his grave, in his rude-dug grave I deposited, Ending my vigil strange with that, vigil of night and battle-field dim, Vigil for boy of responding kisses, (never again on earth responding,) Vigil for comrade swiftly slain, vigil I never forget, how as day brighten’d, I rose from the chill ground and folded my soldier well in his blanket, And buried him where he fell.

Finnick and I sit for a long time in silence, watching the knots bloom and vanish, before I can ask, "How do you bear it?"

the slight stem which bears the burden of its suns Is hardly thicker than the gossamer, Or poor Arachne’s silver tapestry— Men say it bloomed upon the sepulchre Of One I sometime worshipped, but to me It seems to bring diviner memories Of faun-loved Heliconian glades and blue nymph-haunted seas, Of an untrodden vale at Tempe where On the clear river’s marge Narcissus lies, The tangle of the forest in his hair, The silence of the woodland in his eyes, Wooing that drifting imagery which is No sooner kissed than broken; memories of Salmacis Who is not boy nor girl and yet is both, Fed by two fires and unsatisfied Through their excess, each passion being loth For love’s own sake to leave the other’s side Yet killing love by staying; memories Of Oreads peeping through the leaves of silent moonlit trees, Of lonely Ariadne on the wharf At Naxos, when she saw the treacherous crew Far out at sea, and waved her crimson scarf And called false Theseus back again nor knew That Dionysos on an amber pard Was close behind her; memories of what Maeonia’s bard With sightless eyes beheld, the wall of Troy, Queen Helen lying in the ivory room, And at her side an amorous red-lipped boy Trimming with dainty hand his helmet’s plume, And far away the moil, the shout, the groan, As Hector shielded off the spear and Ajax hurled the stone; Of wingèd Perseus with his flawless sword Cleaving the snaky tresses of the witch, And all those tales imperishably stored In little Grecian urns, freightage more rich Than any gaudy galleon of Spain Bare from the Indies ever!

The abrupt sides of vast mountains were before me; the icy wall of the glacier overhung me; a few shattered pines were scattered around; and the solemn silence of this glorious presence-chamber of imperial Nature was broken only by the brawling waves or the fall of some vast fragment, the thunder sound of the avalanche or the cracking, reverberated along the mountains, of the accumulated ice, which, through the silent working of immutable laws, was ever and anon rent and torn, as if it had been but a plaything in their hands.

He would hear a trap snap shut in the middle of the night, and then instead of silence he would hear pliable squeaking and thrashing, whacking noises as the stricken rodent tried to drag itself back to safety with a trap snapped over some part of its anatomy, usually its head.

The voices blend and fuse in clouded silence: silence that is the infinite of space: and swiftly, silently the soul is wafted over regions of cycles of generations that have lived.

He kept silent until the lights went’ out at night, and then, when there had been a long silence containing nothing to echo, he said to Rumfoord, ‘I was in Dresden when it was bombed.

The prophets returned from the desert with their glimpse of God, and through their stained medium (as through a dark glass) showed something of the majesty and brilliance whose full vision would blind, deafen, silence us, serve us as it had served the Beduin, setting him uncouth, a man apart.

“Or are you tied up?” There was a moment of silence.

In terrified outrage she had screamed out against all of that inner clamor, winning a temporary silence.

I could not think that this earth contained a place for sufferings and terrors so unmanning; and you can do but one thing, Utterson, to lighten this destiny, and that is to respect my silence.” Utterson was amazed; the dark influence of Hyde had been withdrawn, the doctor had returned to his old tasks and amities; a week ago, the prospect had smiled with every promise of a cheerful and an honoured age; and now in a moment, friendship, and peace of mind, and the whole tenor of his life were wrecked.

Remembrance Remembering thee, I search out these faint flowers Of rhyme; remembering thee, this crescent night While o’er the buds and o’er the grass-blades, bright And clinging with the dew of odorous showers, With purple sandals sweep the grave-eyed hours— Remembering thee, I muse, while fades in flight The honey-hearted leisure of the light, And hanging o’er the hush of willow bowers, Of ceaseless loneliness and high regret Sings the young wistful spirit of a star Enfolden in the shadows of the East, And silence holding revelry and feast; Just now my soul rose up and touched it, far In space, made equal with a sigh, we met.

The air was full of all the night noises that, taken together, make one big silence—the click of one bamboo-stem against the other, the rustle of something alive in the undergrowth, the scratch and squawk of a half-waked bird (birds are awake in the night much more often than we imagine), and the fall of water ever so far away.

Saved my life.” The shame of emotion overpowered them; they cursed a little, to prove they were good rough fellows; and in a mellow silence, Babbitt whistling while Paul hummed, they paddled back to the hotel.

But this silence—this flight—what can it mean?

We stood staring at each other in solemn silence within a dozen yards or thereabouts, while I fervently hoped that the power of the human eye over wild beasts would prove as great as it is said to be.

The angel’s serene beauty cracked; its eyes flashed; and it screamed at them, crazy-scary and uncontrolled, utterly certain in its righteousness, “They deserved it.” There was a moment of silence.

“Soap and human sacrifice go hand in hand.” You leave the pub in a stream of men, walking through the beaded wet car silence of streets where it’s just rained.

Like this pig also is he who on his bed in silence laments the bonds in which we are held.

Thus they, In silence long my fate I mourn'd; At length these words with accents low return'd: `Me, lock'd in sleep, my faithless crew bereft Of all the blessing of your godlike gift!

His hands shook so badly that it took two blows to silence Sniff and four to put the Growler down.

“Well, how did the strange man get into the garden?” Without turning round, the little priest answered: “There never was any strange man in the garden.” There was a silence, and then a sudden cackle of almost childish laughter relieved the strain.

Mr. Gatsby’s dead.” There was a long silence on the other end of the wire, followed by an exclamation … then a quick squawk as the connection was broken.

And this was heavier far, When bit by bit, rarer and still more rare, The weakening thunder ceased from the cleansed air; 9 When the leaves began to drip with dying rain And trees showed black against the glimmering sky, When the night-birds flapped out and called again Above him: when the silence cool and shy Came stealing to its own, and streams ran by Now audible amid the rustling wood —Oh, then came the worst hour for flesh and blood.

May my father not oppose this.” The Brahmin fell silent, and remained silent for so long that the stars in the small window wandered and changed their relative positions, ere the silence was broken.

Then far away, beyond the wood, on the other hills, she heard a vague prolonged cry, a voice which lingered, and in silence she heard it mingling like music with the last pulsations of her throbbing nerves.

To whom the Arch-Enemy, And thence in Heaven called Satan, with bold words Breaking the horrid silence thus began: “If thou beest he—But Oh how fallen!

The first to break silence was Luscinda, who thus addressed Don Fernando: “Leave me, Señor Don Fernando, for the sake of what you owe to yourself; if no other reason will induce you, leave me to cling to the wall of which I am the ivy, to the support from which neither your importunities, nor your threats, nor your promises, nor your gifts have been able to detach me.

His meditations were polluted with threats of dread diseases like Ewing’s tumor and leukemia; he saw his infant son die two or three times every week because he had never taught his wife how to stop arterial bleeding; watched, in tearful, paralyzed silence, his whole family electrocuted, one after the other, at a baseboard socket because he had never told her that a human body would conduct electricity; all four went up in flames almost every night when the water heater exploded and set the two-story wooden house afire; in ghastly, heartless, revolting detail he saw his poor dear wife’s trim and fragile body crushed to a viscous pulp against the brick wall of a market building by a half-wined drunken automobile driver and watched his hysterical five-year-old daughter being led away from the grisly scene by a kindly middle-aged gentleman with snow-white hair who raped and murdered her repeatedly as soon as he had driven her off to a deserted sandpit, while his two younger children starved to death slowly in the house after his wife’s mother, who had been baby-sitting, dropped dead from a heart attack when news of his wife’s accident was given to her over the telephone.

Then I swallowed the other, and we stood facing one another in silence for a minute or more, waiting to see which was to live and which was to die.

Their first demand was generally, that he should silence and subdue all their adversaries; and their second, that he should bestow an independent provision on themselves.