Mary Carolyn Davies: "If I Had Known"

If I had known what trouble you were bearing;
What griefs were in the silence of your face;
I would have been more gentle, and more caring,
And tried to give you gladness for a space.
I would have brought more warmth into the place,
       If I had known.

If I had known what thoughts despairing drew you;
(Why do we never try to understand?)
I would have lent a little friendship to you,
And slipped my hand within your hand,
And made your stay more pleasant in the land,
       If I had known.

"If I Had Known" by Mary Carolyn Davies. Text as published in The Best Loved Poems of the American People, edited by Hazel Felleman (Doubleday, 1936). 

Art credit: "Bird Cage," photograph by Hossein Zare.