In the Hearts of Men

“Noise is not in the market place, nor quiet in the hills — but in the ever-changing hearts of men.” — Old Chinese Proverb.

“It was quiet here in the hills,” said the old man, sighing,
“When the winds and the rains were resting for a space.
In those lost days, when a century was dying
And the world was an ordered place.
Even when storms awoke, thro’ the great trees shouting,
With the sound of tramping armies, still apart,
Secure I dwelt; for a peace that knows no doubting
Was in my heart.

“We had come for a last brief rest to these green places
Of bush and bird, a life-long friend and I;
And peace was o’er this earth and in men’s faces
And the quiet trees and the sky.
So thro’ the tranquil years in peace supernal
We dwelt and talked together till at last,
Out of this peace into the peace eternal,
My old mate passed.

“Lonely, I still knew peace in quiet communion;
For the tranquil mind soars on untroubled wings;
And solitude is but a name for union
With all created things.
But wars came, and hate, and human error,
And man’s unreason, till these hills gave back
Harsh echoes, and the lightest winds shrieked terror,
And skies turned black.

“There is quiet no more in the hills; there is no haven
In all the earth; strife shouts o’er the green trees;
Even the silence shrieks till the heart grows craven
And clamorous with unease.
And in that once sweet hour as night is falling
And the mind and the heart of a man knew blessed rest,
‘Come soon, poor friend,’ I hear my old mate calling,
‘Life’s but a jest.’”