Poem February 14, 1983 Issue

Eloquence

(a sonnet in secret)

GODFREY JOHN

Forgive me if my words come few and slow,
For when at last the door is closed to sense
Then listening is the strength of eloquence:
I speak what first in secret I must know.

Meekness whispers through a hush of hands;
Now meanings gather where God's Word is host:
The voiceless presence of the Holy Ghost
Breathes softly what the chaste heart understands.

In stillness flows the language of the Christ:
Sereneness in us, like the smile of Mind,
Tells of Soul whose answer makes no sound
Though not a syllable is sacrificed.

Forgive me, then, if words come few and slow:
I speak what first in secret I must know.

GODFREY JOHN

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