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1871–1938

DEEP IN THE QUIET WOOD

James Weldon Johnson

Are you bowed down in heart? Do you but hear the clashing discords and the din of life? Then come away, come to the peaceful wood, Here bathe your soul in silence. Listen! Now,

From out the palpitating solitude Do you not catch, yet faint, elusive strains? They are above, around, within you, everywhere. Silently listen! Clear, and still more clear, they come.

They bubble up in rippling notes, and swell in singing tones. Now let your soul run the whole gamut of the wondrous scale Until, responsive to the tonic chord, It touches the diapason of God's grand cathedral organ,

Filling earth for you with heavenly peace And holy harmonies.

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DEEP IN THE QUIET WOOD · James Weldon Johnson · Poetry Cove