Never am I so alone <br />As when I walk among the crowd — <br />Blurred masks of stern or grinning stone, <br />Unmeaning eyes and voices loud. <br /> <br />Gaze dares not encounter gaze,… <br />Humbled, I turn my head aside; <br />When suddenly there is a face… <br />Pale, subdued and grievous-eyed. <br /> <br />Ah, I know that visage meek, <br />Those trembling lips, the eyes that shine <br />But turn from that which they would seek <br />With an air piteous, divine! <br /> <br />There is not a line or scar, <br />Seal of a sorrow or disgrace, <br />But I know like sigils are <br />Burned in my heart and on my face. <br /> <br />Speak! O speak! Thou art the one! <br />But thou hast passed with sad head bowed; <br />And never am I so alone <br />As when I walk among the crowd.<br /><br />Robert Nichols<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-stranger-39/
