“Then as he sang
it was no longer sounds only that made the music:
he spoke, and as no tree listens I listened”

A Tree Telling of Orpheus (1968)
Context: Then as he sang
it was no longer sounds only that made the music:
he spoke, and as no tree listens I listened, and language
came into my roots
out of the earth,
into my bark
out of the air,
into the pores of my greenest shoots
gently as dew
and there was no word he sang but I knew its meaning.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Denise Levertov 49
Poet 1923–1997

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