We Wear the Mask

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We Wear the Mask

• By Paul Laurence Dunbar

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We Wear the Mask

• 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,      

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We Wear the Mask

• Type of Poem Lyric Poem
• This is the most common type - includes all
  other verse forms (sonnet, ode, ballad, etc.)
  Lyrics were originally sung to the accompaniment
  of a lyre, from which the term was derived.
• Type of Verse Rhyming Verse
• Rhyme is most often used at the ends of verse
  lines, though internal rhyme occurs within the
  line

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We Wear the Mask

• Iambic tetrameter In this metric pattern, a
  line has four pairs of unstressed and stressed
  syllables, for a total eight syllables.
• / / /
  /
• We wear the mask that grins and
  lies,
• / /
  / /
• It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes
• / / /
  /
• This debt we pay to hu- man guile
• / /
  / /
•  With torn and bleed-ing hearts we smile,

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We Wear the Mask

• The theme within in this poem relates to the time
  period in which it was published. In 1896, though
  slavery was banned, there was still a lot of
  prejudice. Many African Americans were forced to
  conceal their pain and anger behind a mask.

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We Wear the Mask

• Symbolism - use of one idea or object to
  represent another or an aspect of life
• In this poem the mask symbolizes hiding
  true feelings from the outside world. A way of
  protecting oneself from others.

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We Wear the Mask

• Metaphor- an implied comparison between two
  different things identifying a person or object
  as the thing to which it is being compared
• In this poem the mask is compared to the way
  the people were masking their feelings from
  their oppressors and each other.

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We Wear the Mask

• The relationship of the title to the poem
• The poems title is directly related to what the
  poem is saying. Dunbars family were ex-slaves
  and felt they, along with others, needed to hide
  their feelings about slavery and their place in
  society. They believed their true feelings would
  cause whites to retaliate. So they chose to
  conceal their emotions in order to move forward.

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We Wear the Mask

• Explain the meaning of the poem. What message
  is the poet sending us?
• The poem is sending us the message that people
  wear masks that suggest happiness, when their
  inner feeling are far from it.

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About the Poet

• Paul Laurence Dunbar was born in Dayton Ohio on
  June 27, 1872. His father, Joseph and Mother
  Mitilda Murphy Dunbar were emancipated slaves.
• He published his first book of poetry, Oak and
  Ivy, at his own expense in 1893. His second book,
  Majors and Minors, was published two years
  later.Due to the success of Majors and Minors he
  was able to publish a third volume of Poetry in
  1896, Lyrics of Lowly Life, which was printed by
  a major publishing company.
• He was hired as an assistant in the Library of
  Congress. In 1898, he married Alice Moore, but
  they separated in 1901.
• Dunbar contracted tuberculosis when he was almost
  thirty. He returned to Dayton where he died on
  February 9, 1906.

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My Original Poem

• By
• Lia Sage

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The Storm

• Its dark and cold
• Nowhere to go
• I see it now
• Moving so fast
• All hope is lost
• Theres no more light
• The rain pours down
• Alls lost tonight

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Presented by Lia Sage Date 9/28/09 Class ECE
3602
Bibliography http//drb.lifestreamcenter.net/Less
ons/Poetry/elements.htm http//www.dunbarsite.org/