Rondeau · Life

We Wear the Mask

by Paul Laurence Dunbar · 1895

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!

This poem is in the public domain.

“We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar — quilloak.com/poems/we-wear-the-mask

Rondeau Lyric Poem Life Strength

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