Silence

On a Still Morning
Nan Shepherd

I hear the silence now,
Alive within its heart
Are the sounds that can not be heard
That the ear may not dispart?

As white light gathers all – The rose and the amethyst,
The ice-green and the copper-green,
The peacock blue and the mist –

So if I bend my ear
To silence, I grown aware
The stir of sounds I have almost heard
That are not quite there.

Recommended

Pyrah, S. (2025, February 2). Quiet, please! The remarkable power of silence – for our bodies and our minds. The Guardian.

Bold Books and Bones (Director). (2022, April 23). What do you hear when you find silence? YouTube.

IntoGreatSilence (Director). (2007, February 21). Official Into Great Silence US Trailer YouTube.

An astounding documentary! From the description:

"Nestled deep in the postcard-perfect French Alps, the Grande Chartreuse is considered one of the world's most ascetic monasteries. In 1984, German filmmaker Philip Gröning wrote to the Carthusian order for permission to make a documentary about them. They said they would get back to him. Sixteen years later, they were ready. Gröning, sans crew or artificial lighting, lived in the monks' quarters for six months—filming their daily prayers, tasks, rituals and rare outdoor excursions. This transcendent, closely observed film seeks to embody a monastery, rather than simply depict one—it has no score, no voiceover and no archival footage. What remains is stunningly elemental: time, space and light. One of the most mesmerizing and poetic chronicles of spirituality ever created, INTO GREAT SILENCE dissolves the border between screen and audience with a total immersion into the hush of monastic life. More meditation than documentary, it's a rare, transformative theatrical experience for all."

Robert Gershon (Director). (2022, March 29). And They Kept Silence YouTube.

If I Get Time

Shepherd, N. (2008). The living mountain: A celebration of the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland. Edinburgh: Canongate. (Archive)

Shepherd, N., & Macfarlane, R. (2019). In the Cairngorms (UK ed. edition). Galileo Publishers.