Sharp against a sky of grey,
Pigeon’s nest in naked tree;
Every silver twig up-curled,
Not a budding leaf unfurled,
Not a breath to fan the day!
World aspiring and severe,
Not a hum of fly or bee,
Not a song, and not a cry,
Not a perfume stealing by —
Stillest moment of the year!
From: Galsworthy, John and Galsworthy, Ada (ed.), The Collected Poems of John Galsworthy, 1934, William Heinemann Ltd: London, p. 99.
(https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.123317)
Date: 1912
By: John Galsworthy (1867-1933)
From Troubles of The World 