Continual guns, be silent for a moment, Be silent, now. We know your thirst. We hear the roll of your wheels Crushing down tangled June, Virginia June, With tires of iron, with heavy caissons creaking, Crushing down maidenhair and wilderness-seal, Scaring the rabbit and the possum-children, Scaring the redbird and the mockingbird As McClellan’s army moves forward. We know your bloody thirst so soon to be slaked With the red burst-grape juices. But now, we would have you silent, a little moment, We would have you hold your peace and point at the moon. For when you speak, we can hear no sound but your sound, And we would hear the voices of men and women For a little while.