Misunderstood

People do not understand me,
Their ideas are not like mine ;
All advances seem to land me
Still outside their guarded shrine.

So you turn from simple joyance,
Losing many a mutual good,
Weary with the chill annoyance
So to be misunderstood.

Let me try to lift the curtain
Hiding other hearts from view ;
You complain, but are you certain
That the fault is not with you ?

In the sunny summer hours,
Sitting in your quiet room,
Can you wonder if the flowers
Breathe for you no sweet perfume ?

True, you see them bright and pearly
With the jewelry of morn ;
But their fragrance, fresh and early,
Is not through your window borne.

You must go to them, and stooping,
Cull the blossoms where they live ;
On your bosom gently drooping,
All their treasure they will give.

Who would guess what fragrance lingers
In verbena's pale green show !
Press the leaflet in your fingers,
All its sweetness you will know.

Few the harps ,olian, sending
Unsought music on the wind :
Else must love and skill be blending
Music's full response to find.

'But my key-note,' are you thinking,
'Will not modulate to theirs ?'
Seek ! and subtle chords enlinking,
Soon shall blend the differing airs.

Fairly sought, some point of contact
There must be with every mind ;
And, perchance, the closest compact
Where we least expect we find.

Perhaps the heart you meet so coldly
Burns with deepest lava-glow ;
Wisely pierce the crust, and boldly,
And a fervid stream shall flow.

Dialects of love are many,
Though the language be but one ;
Study all you can, or any,
While life's precious school-hours run.

Closed the heart-door of thy brother,
All its treasure long concealed ?
One key fails, then try another,
Soon the rusty lock shall yield.

Few have not some hidden trial,
And could sympathize with thine ;
Do not take it as denial
That you see no outward sign.

Silence is no certain token
That no secret grief is there ;
Sorrow which is never spoken
Is the heaviest load to bear.

Seldom can the heart be lonely,
If it seek a lonelier still,
Self-forgetting, seeking only
Emptier cups of love to fill.

'Twill not be a fruitless labour,
Overcome this ill with good ;
Try to understand your neighbour.
And you will be understood.