See this house, how dark it is br Beneath its vast-boughed trees! br Not one trembling leaflet cries br To that Watcher in the skies— br ‘Remove, remove thy searching gaze, br Innocent of heaven’s ways, br Brood not, Moon, so wildly bright, br On secrets hidden from sight.’ br br br ‘Secrets,’ sighs the night-wind, br ‘Vacancy is all I find; br Every keyhole I have made br Wails a summons, faint and sad, br No voice ever answers me, br Only vacancy.’ br ‘Once, once … ’ the cricket shrills, br And far and near the quiet fills br With its tiny voice, and then br Hush falls again. br br br Mute shadows creeping slow br Mark how the hours go. br Every stone is mouldering slow. br And the least winds that blow br Some minutest atom shake, br Some fretting ruin make br In roof and walls.