All language is impediment,
 A word seeks to impress,
To bind and chain men’s joy and pain
 As captives, more or less.

Between the lines of what is meant
 And what another hears,
A barricade is swiftly made—
 Impervious to tears.

Nor need we utter to consent
 When languages seduce
Our tribes to turn as neighbours burn,
 With words as our excuse.

Stop up my mouth, my heart is rent
 This close to paradise,
A kiss shall seal what words would steal—
 Love’s silence must suffice.