O make me a mask

Dylan Thomas

1914 to 1953

Poem Image

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 a 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.