What is the poem Silence by Edgar Lee Masters about? What is it trying to prove?

Question

What is the poem Silence by Edgar Lee Masters about? What is it trying to prove?

Answer 1

It basically talks about how through silence, one can show many emotions, so why bother with talking (a.k.a. "language" in the first verse.)  The poem is attempting to prove that silence can show more emotion than language by giving examples: an old soldier struck into silence by a range of emotions after being asked a question, "the silence of great hatred," "the silence of great love," etcetera.  It finishes by noting that though we might not tell people (like the soldier) what we are truly thinking, those who know us best will, in fact, be able to tell what we are thinking through our silence.

I can go more in depth, but I hope that my cursory explanation helped a little :)