“Softly the breezes from the forest came,Softly they blew aside the taper's flame;Clear was the song from Philomel's far bower;Grateful the incense from the lime-tree flower;Mysterious, wild, the far-heard trumpet's tone;Lovely the moon in ether, all alone:Sweet too, the converse of these happy mortals,As that of busy spirits when the portalsAre closing in the west; or that soft hummingWe hear around when Hesperus is coming.Sweet be their sleep.”

“Frustration, too evident in the cement clench of his jaw.Distance, the ethereal detached from the flesh and bone.Impatience, in the soft thrum of his heel as we sit in silence.”

“My feet will tread soft as a deer in the forest.... My mind will be clear as water from the sacred well. My heart will be strong as a great oak. My spirit will spread an eagle's wings, and fly forth. This is the way of truth.”

“Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship,Yet she sailed softly too:Sweetly, sweetly blew the breeze -On me alone it blew.”

“From the dark forest that bordered the soft ploughed fields, came a low cry that did not belong to any animal. It was accompanied by the sound of branches bending and snapping, and the splintering of wood as trees were crushed or toppled onto their sides.”

“{In the shadows where the ancestors sleep, the bird's song is young, but all else is old. Stillness surrounds me and I breathe softly expecting the unexpected.} from book in progress”