Never am I so
As when I walk among the crowd — Blurred masks of stern or grinning stone,
Unmeaning eyes and voices loud.
Gaze dares not encounter gaze,…Humbled,
I turn my head aside;
When suddenly there is a face…Pale, subdued and grievous-eyed.
Ah,
I know that visage meek,
Those trembling lips, the eyes that
But turn from that which they would
With an air piteous, divine!
There is not a line or scar,
Seal of a sorrow or disgrace,
But I know like sigils
Burned in my heart and on my face.
Speak!
O speak!
Thou art the one!
But thou hast passed with sad head bowed;
And never am I so
As when I walk among the crowd.
