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Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)<br />
<br />
We Wear the Mask<br />
<br />
<br />
We wear the mask that grins and lies, <br />
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,-<br />
This debt we pay to human guile; <br />
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, <br />
And mouth with myriad subtleties. <br />
<br />
Why should the world be over-wise, <br />
In counting all our tears and sighs? <br />
Nay, let them only see us, while <br />
We wear the mask. <br />
<br />
We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries <br />
To thee from tortured souls arise. <br />
We sing, but oh the clay is vile <br />
Beneath our feet, and long the mile; <br />
But let the world dream otherwise, <br />
We wear the mask! <br />