Note #2

We Wear the Mask

BY PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR

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 over-wise,

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!

"We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar is a poem that supports the idea of "Don't judge a book by it's cover".  Unlike the popular saying, the poem uses the metaphor of a mask and how we hide our true feelings and project ourselves differently to the world. "Nay let them only see us, while We wear the mask." suggests that  people put smiles on their faces to disguise their true feelings.  "With torn and bleeding hearts we smile" is saying that we all have pain and suffering inside yet we hide it all with smiles. The poem seems to except the pain in life but has hope for something more for all souls. "Beneath our feet, and long the mile; But let the world dream otherwise," portrays a sense of hope despite the suffering in the world. People let themselves dream of something bigger and better although in the inside they may be tortured souls. He infers that people shield themselves with forced and fake smiles in order to hope for the best and shield themselves from society.