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!
Paul Laurence. Dunbar, "“We Wear the Mask.”" from The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar. (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, )
It looks as though it is true of most African Americans throughout history. What examples resonate with you?
1. "We Wear the Mask" is one of the most famous poems in African-American tradition. Why do you think it has persisted through more than 100 years of culture? Give examples from the poem that you feel are particularly resonating.
4 answers
Dunbar shows the pain that slavery and racism brought to African Americans.The reason the poem stayed popular throughout a whole century was for a bad reason:Although slavery was for the most part demolished the blacks still had limitations.The African Americans and the whites had seperate schools and hangouts for example."With torn and bleeding hearts we smile" is very relateable in modern day culture.For example,many people have trouble with money,but they hide it fro their children with happy faces and bedtime stories.Teenagers can have major depression that they hide from their fellow classmates.This is because they don't want people to judge them or know how they really feel.
This aged so well in this time of COVID-19.... lolllll
This aged so well during this era of COVID-19/COVID-19 in general... lol
1 answer