O MAKE ME A MASK. DYLAN THOMAS

O make me a mask/ Dylan Thomas

O make me a mask and a wall to shut from your spies

Of the sharp, enamelled eyes and the spectacled claws


Rape and rebellion in the nurseries of my face,


Gag of dumbstruck tree to block from bare enemies


The bayonet tongue in this undefended prayerpiece,


The present mouth, and the sweetly blown trumpet of lies,


Shaped in old armour and oak the countenance of a dunce


To shield the glistening brain and blunt the examiners,


And a tear-stained widower grief drooped from the lashes


To veil belladonna and let the dry eyes perceive


Others betray the lamenting lies of their losses


By the curve of the nude mouth or the laugh up the sleeve.