The Two Houses

In the strange city of Life
Two houses I know well:
One wherein Silence a garden hath,
And one where Dark doth dwell.

Roof unto roof they stand,
Shadowing the dizzied street,
Where Vanity flaunts her gilded booths
In the noontide glare and heat.

Green-graped upon their walls
An ancient hoary vine
Hath clustered their carven, lichenous stones
With tendril serpentine.

And ever and anon,
Dazed in that clamorous throng,
I thirst for the soundless fount that stills
Those orchards mute of song.

Knock, knock, nor knock in vain:
Heart all thy secrets tell
Where Silence a fast-sealed garden hath,
Where Dark doth dwell.