Quiz What was Paul Laurence Dunbar’s first collection of poetry and when was it published? Who is Paul Laurence Dunbar ? Tell me three things that you know about him. Who is the “WE” in this poem? What struggles do they face? How many stanzas are in this poem? What does the word “guile” mean? What does the word “myriad” mean? In “We Wear the Mask,” what emotions does the mask hide? What is the meter of this poem? Why did Paul Laurence Dunbar write this poem?

We Wear The Mask By: Paul Laurence Dunbar

Autobiography Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 – 1906) Was born in Dayton, Ohio on June 27, 1872. Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first African American to attempt to live off of his writing. He was one of the first to gain National Prominence. At age 14 his poem was published by one of most read news articles, Dayton Herald. He was the first to edit Dayton Tattler African American newspaper that was published by classmate Orville Wright. He worked as an elevator operator. He earned recognition among writers and critics in 1892, when a teacher invited him to read one of his poems. In 1893 he took out a loan to pay for the publishing costs and then published his first collection called Oak and Ivy. Later that year he moved to Chicago and made a new friend known as Frederick Douglass. (Known for going to court and fighting for his freedom.) He then published his second collection, Majors and Minors in 1895 with the help of friends. William Dean Howells was very impressed he wrote an introduction for Dunbar’s next collection, Lyrics of a Lowly Life (1896). Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 – 1906)

Autobiography Dunbar composed of two styles, one formal and one elegant. The other informal, using rural dialect, which he called “jingles in a broken tongue.” He had little supporter even from his mother, but other African American’s because of his dialect poems related to white readers. Poems like Douglass and WE wear the Masks command of the English language that was often overlooked, capturing the struggles of African Americans in a dignified, graceful manner. By his late twenties, Dunbar was a nationally prominent poet. Unfortunately, his life was cut short by tuberculosis in 1906.By the end of his life , his poetry was so popular that he was able to write from Florida.

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,              We wear the mask!

Figures of Speech Alliteration the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. Repetition of consonant sounds, alliteration, occurs throughout the poem. ( That’s is the letter “w” that we highlight in the poem) Metaphor the controlling figure of speech in the poem is a metaphor, expressed in the first line, then enlarged and extended in the rest of the poem. The metaphor compares mask of Line 1 to the false emotional façades blacks use to avoid provoking their oppressors. Apostrophe a punctuation mark (’) used to indicate either possession or the omission of letters or numbers. Lines 1 and 2 of Stanza 3 present an apostrophe, a figure of speech that directly addresses an absent person or entity.  We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries  To thee from tortured souls arise.  Dunbar avoids specifically mentioning blacks and their suffering, the poem could stand as a lament on behalf of all people forced to wear a "mask"–the girl who hides her pregnancy from her parents, the boy who defensively humors an abusive parent, the soldier under fire who writes home that all is well when all is not well. One may fairly argue that the poem is about every human being. Who, after all, has not worn a mask on occasion to conceal hurt, frustration, disappointment? 

Structure 3 stanzas. 15 lines. 5 lines in the first stanza, 4 lines in the second stanza, and 6 lines in the last stanza . AABBCAABDAABAD rhyme scheme. It does rhyme but it is not the conventional rhyming poem. All the lines in the poem except Lines 9 and 15 are in 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,-  These two lines are also known to be a couplet that contains two rhyme scheme at the end of the line. The word WE represents everyone in the world and can also refer himself. This first line talks about the mask that grins and lies, which can mean that all of us can look a certain way to others and hide our identity. The second line is setting an example but also saying that it is hiding every inch of our face. This line can also be related to Paul Laurence Dunbar because of his lack of support from people and also was wanting to be someone he was not.    

This debt we pay to human guile; The words human guile can be applied to not just the struggle for African American but in general the human struggle. But it says how we just lie in general through our daily life to either get away with things. It also tries hiding its treacherous purpose of one another. guile- deceitfulness, not being real.

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, And mouth my myriad subtleties. This first line uses a metaphor, like torn and bleeding hearts we smile. The first line is explaining the feeling under the mask, which is pain. The heart is not just torn but it is also bleeding emphasizing the person is injured, figuratively. Smile is referring to the mask meaning. The second line is referring to the speaker talking countless of precious things. The second line is an iambic tetrameter even though myriad is pronounced in two syllables rather than three. subtleties- things that come across subtle, less obvious. myriad- countless or extremely great number.

Why should the world be over-wise, In counting all our tears and sighs? The first line is asking a rhetorical question because it is trying to prove a point. It’s also trying to show the truth with or without the mask and wants everyone to take notice without needing to over think. The second line is referring to say the harshness behind those masks. The words all are means that the speaker is not trying to refer to as himself, but for others. These lines may perhaps contain a number rather than seeing human suffering.

Nay, let them only see us, While we wear the mask. The first line is now answering the question from the last line before suggesting that everyone only see’s the masks and lies. Let them as in the world be spared by only seeing the mask because most of the people can’t handle the truth. So the speaker is also trying to say that we cant always hide our pain over these masks because it’s not okay for one to hide all the suffering pain.

We smile, but, O great Christ our cries To thee form tortured souls arise. We smile can signify to the masks, explaining that they cover up our pain and because of that they cause the problems. O great Christ signifies reaching out to a spiritual guidance and asks to hear out the cries of people, those under the mask. The reason for him to bring Christ is because of the tortured souls that are crying for help, even if they appear to smile. The speaker begins spiritually to chant for salvation, arise.

We sing, but oh the clay is vile Beneath our feet, and long the mile; So the people wearing the mask don’t just smile, but sing. Perhaps they are singing threw the pain while the clay- earth- is going threw a vile. Beneath our feet, and along the mile suggests that there is still hope throughout the way, but might take them a while since it is a mile. vile- wretchedly bad; foul; filthy

But let the world dream otherwise, We wear the mask! Since the world is dreaming then people might feel safer since people wont know what’s really going on. This first line is suggesting to accept the smile of the mask and avoid the truth behind it. The word otherwise meaning under other circumstances we lie and smile away the truth. We wear the mask! Which can signify what we read throughout the poem( the lies, cries, pain, etc.)

Conclusion "We Wear the Mask" is a lyric poem about oppressed black Americans forced to hide their pain and frustration behind a façade of happiness and contentment.  To get by in America of the late 19th Century, blacks frequently concealed their pain, frustration, and anger from whites, as well as from one another. For blacks to reveal publicly their true feelings about whites' maltreatment of them would have been to risk dangerous retaliation. After all, prejudice was official policy in Dunbar's lifetime–governmentality and otherwise–and whites vastly outnumbered blacks. Sometimes, blacks even withheld their true feelings from one another, for defeat and desperation were difficult to articulate–and could impose deep anxiety upon loved ones. So it was that many blacks wore a mask that suggested happiness and contentment but concealed acute distress and pain.

Quiz What was Paul Laurence Dunbar’s first collection of poetry and when was it published? Who is Paul Laurence Dunbar ? Tell me three things that you know about him. Who is the “WE” in this poem? What struggles do they face? How many stanzas are in this poem? What does the word “guile” mean? What does the word “myriad” mean? In “We Wear the Mask,” what emotions does the mask hide? What is the meter of this poem? Why did Paul Laurence Dunbar write this poem?