Classic Poem

There is a loneliness on city streets
—More desolate than crag or wind-swept hill;
So near to others, still no welcome greets
—The ear with understanding and good will.
Sometimes I think that each one strives to hide,
—Masklike, the secret longings of the heart,
And yet, their stolid countenances confide
—A message that the lips dare not impart.

The brain grows dizzy while the eye looks on
—This pageant that forever marches by,
Till human folk seem but the cast-off spawn
—Of earth, with none to heed their inmost cry,
Ah then, do things inanimate, field and tree,
—Seem clothed in friendship's calm security.

There is a loneliness on city streets
—More desolate than crag or wind-swept hill;
So near to others, still no welcome greets
—The ear with understanding and good will.
Sometimes I think that each one strives to hide,
—Masklike, the secret longings of the heart,
And yet, their stolid countenances confide
—A message that the lips dare not impart.

The brain grows dizzy while the eye looks on
—This pageant that forever marches by,
Till human folk seem but the cast-off spawn
—Of earth, with none to heed their inmost cry,
Ah then, do things inanimate, field and tree,
—Seem clothed in friendship's calm security.