The Stranger

Never am I so alone      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 shine     But turn from that which they would seek      With an air piteous, divine!     There is not a line or scar,      Seal of a sorrow or disgrace,     But I know like sigils are      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 alone      As when I walk among the crowd.