We Wear the Mask
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
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Use the questions below to annotate (mark up) the poem.
1. How many stanzas does this poem contain?
2. Label the rhyme scheme of this poem.
3. Define the following words: guile, myriad, subtleties,
vile.
4. Give an example of alliteration.
5. Give an example of allusion.
6. Give an example of symbolism in this poem and
explain what it is a symbol for.
7. Paraphrase the following line from the poem:
Why should the world be over wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
8. Use the outline to write a one-paragraph analysis.
Poetry Analysis Paragraph
• Should follow the two-chunk model:
– TS Topic Sentence: A statement that expresses a
theme or meaning of the poem and/or an
evaluation of the author’s craft.
• Example: In “We Wear the Mask,” Paul Laurence
Dunbar uses a mask to symbolize the human desire to
hide our true feelings from the rest of the world.
Concrete Details and Commentary
• CDs: Lines or phrases from the poem to support your
topic sentence.
– Example: The poem begins with the following lines, “We
wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and
shades our eyes.”
• CM #1: Your explanation of how that line supports
your topic sentence.
– Example: This shows that all human beings have a
tendency to put on their masks when times get tough.
• CM #2: Further analysis and explanation (dig deeper
into your interpretation of the CD)
– Example: These masks “grin” while we may be crying on
the inside, and they “lie” and say that everything is fine
when it is not.
• CD #2: Dunbar goes on to say, “We smile…
but our cries… from tortured souls arise.”
• CM #1: Here, he describes humans crying out
in emotional anguish from within our
“tortured souls.”
• CM #2: Yet we continue to “smile,” even when
we are lost, hurt, and suffering on the inside.
Concluding sentences (1-2)
• CS: Tie it all together and revisit your TS
– Example: The symbol of the mask is extended
throughout the poem to represent the façade that
we present to protect our fragile sense of selfidentify and emotional well-being from the rest of
the world.
•
In “We Wear the Mask,” Paul Laurence Dunbar
uses a mask to symbolize the human desire to hide our
true feelings from the rest of the world. The poem
begins with the following lines, “We wear the mask
that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our
eyes.” This shows that all human beings have a
tendency to put on their masks when times get tough.
These masks “grin” while we may be crying on the
inside, and they “lie” and say that everything is fine
when it is not. Dunbar goes on to say, “We smile… but
our cries… from tortured souls arise.” Here, he
describes humans crying out in emotional anguish
from within our “tortured souls.” Yet we continue to
“smile,” even when we are lost, hurt, and suffering on
the inside. The symbol of the mask is extended
throughout the poem to represent the façade that we
present to protect our fragile sense of self-identify and
emotional well-being from the rest of the world.