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 overwise,
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!
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photo by Felipe Daniel Reis at http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/miOQ0ak/clown+2
You have a classic style of writing. Unlike my poems which i just know how to describe. But then I guess one can’t judge one’s own work.
You commented on two poems and the one here is by Paul Dunbar. The other one, “Woe Floats”, was by me. My blog is a mixture of my poems, my haiku, and poems by other poets whose poems are now in the public domain.
This is one of my favorite poems; I always enjoy reading it again. 🙂