The Man with the Iron Mask.

THE MAN WITH THE IRON MASK. John Albert Macy.

T^ARK victim of the worst of dooms, Against the blackest shades of ill That ebon-veiled visage looms, A deeper, blacker shadow still. Mere figure where a man had stood; The right of self forever lost; Unseen the looks, or ill or good, That o'er his shrouded features crossed. God grant — 'tis all the prayer I ask — That human souls, some time, somewhere, May strip away the iron mask That Earth has doomed us all to wear.

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