The Mask
I wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides my cheeks and shades my eyes
This debt we pay to human guile;
With a torn and bleeding heart I smile,
And mouth with myria subtletie

Why should the world be otherwise,
In counting my tears and sighs?
No, let them only see me, while
I wear the mask

I smile, but O, my cries
To thee from tortured soul arise
I sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise
I wear the mask