Three Silences there are: the first of speech, br The second of desire, the third of thought; br This is the lore a Spanish monk, distraught br With dreams and visions, was the first to teach. br These Silences, commingling each with each, br Made up the perfect Silence, that he sought br And prayed for, and wherein at times he caught br Mysterious sounds from realms beyond our reach. br O thou, whose daily life anticipates br The life to come, and in whose thought and word br The spiritual world preponderates.