WE WEAR THE MASK
by: Paul Laurence Dunbar
(1872-1906)
- E 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 oh 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!
"We Wear the Mask" is
reprinted from The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Paul Laurence Dunbar. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Co., 1913. |
MORE POEMS BY PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR |
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