Retreat
Let me sit quiet: then I can know The wellsprings of my heart have found their rest: Let me be silent: then is it so When my lone thoughts are at their very best.
Anna M. Johnson
SourceLicence:Public domain (US, unrenewed)
Let me sit quiet: then I can know The wellsprings of my heart have found their rest: Let me be silent: then is it so When my lone thoughts are at their very best.
In just four lines, Johnson's speaker makes a quiet request: to be left alone, still and silent. The reason comes straight away. Only when she stops moving and talking can she tell whether the "wellsprings" of her heart, the deep source of her feelings, have settled. A wellspring is where a stream begins, so the image suggests that her inner life needs calm the way water needs time to run clear.
The final line gives the real payoff. Her "lone thoughts" are at their "very best" in silence, which turns solitude into something valuable rather than sad. Notice the repeated "Let me": it sounds gentle, almost like a prayer, and not at all like a complaint. The title, "Retreat," fits that tone. She isn't running away from the world so much as stepping back to hear herself think. The mood is hushed, peaceful and a little private, as if we've been let in on a personal habit.