| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 251. The Voiceless |
| | | By Oliver Wendell Holmes |
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| WE count the broken lyres that rest | |
| Where the sweet wailing singers slumber, | |
| But o’er their silent sister’s breast | |
| The wild-flowers who will stoop to number? | |
| A few can touch the magic string, | 5 |
| And noisy Fame is proud to win them:— | |
| Alas for those that never sing, | |
| But die with all their music in them! | |
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| Nay, grieve not for the dead alone | |
| Whose song has told their hearts’ sad story,— | 10 |
| Weep for the voiceless, who have known | |
| The cross without the crown of glory! | |
| Not where Leucadian breezes sweep | |
| O’er Sappho’s memory-haunted billow, | |
| But where the glistening night-dews weep | 15 |
| On nameless sorrow’s churchyard pillow. | |
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| O hearts that break and give no sign | |
| Save whitening lip and fading tresses, | |
| Till Death pours out his longed-for wine | |
| Slow-dropped from Misery’s crushing presses,— | 20 |
| If singing breath or echoing chord | |
| To every hidden pang were given, | |
| What endless melodies were poured, | |
| As sad as earth, as sweet as heaven! | |
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