Sagacity
We knew so much; when her beautiful eyes could lighten,
Her beautiful laughter follow our phrase;
Or the gaze go hard with pain, the lips tighten,
On the bitterer days.
Oh, ours was all knowing then, all generous displaying.
Such wisdom we had to show!
And now there is merely silence, silence, silence saying
All we did not know.
---
William Rose Benét (1886-1950)
from Sagacity, 1929
[Poem is in the public domain in Canada]
William Rose Benét biography
William Rose Benét was married to poet Elinor Wylie, who died Dec. 16, 1928.
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