does anyone know of a poem that can match the theme of 'not knowing a person's depth' that goes along with these song lyrics?:
belle and sebastian, "beautiful"
"But if you knew what's going on in her life
There'd be a thousand barren mothers there to talk to her
If you knew what's going on in her life
There'd be two hundred troubled teenagers to sit with her
And to talk to her
If you knew what's going on in her life
There would be a documentary on Radio 4"
the smiths, "unloveable"
"If I seem a little strange
That's because I am
But, I know that you would like me
If only you could see me
If only you would meet me"
May I suggest "Richard Cory" in Edgar Lee Master's "Spoon River Anthology"
Here's one that would be by the person who's being misunderstood:
Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)
We Wear the Mask
WE wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.
We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!
Les