THE VALLEY OF SILENCE - From the January 1887 issue of The Christian Science Journal (a haunting piece of prose):

In the hush of the valley of Silence

I dream all the songs that I sing;

And the music floats down the dim valley,

Till each finds a word for a wing,

That to hearts, like the dove of the Deluge,

A message of peace they may bring.

But far on the deep there are billows

That never shall break on the beach;

And I have heard songs in the silence

That never shall float into speech:

And I have had dreams in the valley

Too lofty for language to reach.

And I have seen thoughts in the valley—

Ah! how my spirit was stirred!—

And they wear holy veils on their faces;

Their footsteps can scarcely be heard:

They pass through the valley like virgins,

Too pure for the touch of a word.

Do you ask me the place of the valley,

Ye hearts that are harrowed with care;

It lieth afar between mountains,

And God and His angels are there;

And one is, the dark mountain of sorrow,

And one, the bright mountain of prayer.