We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar

This poem has great imagery throughout the stanzas. The rhymes throught the poem are lies, eyes... guiles, smile, sighs, while, cries, arise, vile, mile, other-wise and over-wise (these don't rhyme exactly but it uses the "I" in its pronunciation). Paul Dunbar attacked the topic of hidding who we really are, in this poem. It starts out talking about: "the mask that grins and lies". Meaning we all may seem calm on the outside, but on the inside we are full of lies. Then it says, "the debt we pay to human guile" which means the things we do for humanity's deciet. "With torn and bleeding hearts we smile" also has to do with seeming calm on the outside but really fighting a war on the inside. The next lines kind of confront why we hide behind masks. It says we shouldn't because the world is not "over-wise" or over knowledgable. It basically says the world makes mistakes so why can't we? It then jumps back into the hiding part saying: "nay, let them only see us, while we wear the mask". We pray to God from our tortured souls and then we turn around and wear the mask. We should be humble and show our weaknesses and take off the mask. I also think this poem has to do with people not being who they really are. They hide behind a mask their whole lives pretending to be someone they are not. I like how it tells the world to dream otherwise, basically take off that mask and show the world for who you are.