'Speak up - no need to shout -I'm not THAT deaf! ' br - do I have real reason to complain, br if years of partial listening have brought br now partial hearing in their fateful train? br br O Milton - isn't it curious: the blind br evoke our instant feelings of compassion - br while deafness calls some idiot state to mind, br evoking, far from pity - irritation? br br Those saintly mystics would just praise their God br that He, to speed their simple saintliness, br brings outer deafness so that inner Word br in cloistered silence, bring a greater bliss... br br So may I bear affliction in good part br and hope to hear the louder in the heart.