A MAY EVENING 



Bunnies from out the copse advance, the younger 

 brown puff-balls with the recklessness of unwary 

 youth, followed in cautious hops by their hunch- 

 backed seniors, to whom however the joy of life is 

 so great that they cannot occasionally suppress an 

 aimless pirouette and capering scuttle; while from 

 the oak trees above, our delight is enhanced by the 

 smooth soft cooing of the now almost tame wood- 

 pigeon. Thus Nature, full of bursting life, seems to 

 pause, to hesitate in silent restfulness, in satisfying 

 peacefulness, free from all stagnation yet not a 

 pause, for life never pauses, alas ! it passes soon, 

 like a flower, and is gone. 



Yet this hush of twilight brings a quietness we 

 hear ; it is far from real silence ; all around are many 

 sounds, but they are tender sounds, which seem to 

 calm and lull the mind to rest, to soothe the senses, 

 as when we feel our grasp of life relax and welcome 

 sleep replaces the toil of consciousness. 



Unbroken silence is a death-like thing, a real thing 

 to feel too terrible ! a desert world of sun and sand, 

 soundless, lifeless, a tract whereon the wind is speech- 

 less, finding no rock to answer back in moan or sigh, 



89 



THE QUIETNESS 

 OF EVENING 



THE DESERT 



