We Wear the Mask

by P. L. Dunbar

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 of the clay is vile

Beneath our feet, and long the mile;

But let the world dream otherwise,

We wear the mask!