“The silence depressed me. It wasn't the silence of silence. It was my own silence.”

“The silence drew off, baring the pebbles and shells and all the tatty wreckage of my life.”

“I saw their mouths going up and down without a sound, as if they were sitting on the deck of a departing ship, stranding me in the middle of a huge silence.”

“Their hands and faces stiff with holiness.The moon sees nothing of this. She is bald and wild.And the message of the yew tree is blackness--blackness and silence.”

“Stars open among the lilies.Are you not blinded by such expressionless sirens?This is the silence of astounded souls.--from "Crossing the Water", written 1962”

“I have fallen a long way. Clouds are floweringBlue and mystical over the face of the starsInside the church, the saints will all be blue,Floating on their delicate feet over the cold pews,Their hands and faces stiff with holiness.The moon sees nothing of this. She is bald and wild.And the message of the yew tree is blackness - blackness and silence.”

“The only thing I could think of was turkey neck and turkey gizzards and I felt very depressed.”