Not Understood

Not understood, we move along asunder;

Our paths grow wider as the seasons creep

Along the years; we marvel and we wonder

Why life is life, and then we fall asleep

Not understood.

Not understood, we gather false impressions

And hug them closer as the years go by;

Till virtues often seem to us transgressions;

And thus men rise and fall, and live and die

Not understood.

Not understood! Poor souls with stunted vision

Oft measure giants with their narrow gauge;

The poisoned shafts of falsehood and derision

Are oft impelled 'gainst those who mould the age,

Not understood.

Not understood! The secret springs of action

Which lie beneath the surface and the show,

Are disregarded; with self-satisfaction

We judge our neighbours, and they often go

Not understood.

Not understood! How trifles often change us!

The thoughtless sentence and the fancied slight

Destroy long years of friendship, and estrange us,

And on our souls there falls a freezing blight;

Not understood.

Not understood! How many breasts are aching

For lack of sympathy! Ah! day by day

How many cheerless, lonely hearts are breaking!

How many noble spirits pass away,

Not understood.

O God! that men would see a little clearer,

Or judge less harshly where they cannot see!

O God! that men would draw a little nearer

To one another, -- they'd be nearer Thee,

And understood.