Silent Hours

When I am silent let me rest alone,
Oh! shut the door twixt me and anxious care;
For these are hours that I wish for my own—
The hours of rest that mend the daily wear.
When I am silent do not come to me
And ask with anxious look if I am well,
I’m only striving for an hour that’s free—
In one hour of forgetfulness to dwell.
Then let me lie beneath a forest tree,
Or out where rolling prairies stretch away;
Where gentle breezes whisper there to me,
And sing their sweet rest songs the livelong day.
For sad the soul when Nature cannot come
Into its “deep recesses” for awhile;
And drive away all care, and start the hum
Of music in the heart, and leave a smile.