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!