Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906)
We Wear the Mask
We will begin this unit by studying a poem by the renowned African American
poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar. The poem We Wear the Mask has been frequently
cited as an illustration of Du Bois's concept of double consciousness.
Since the poem was published in 1896, the language is a bit dated, and
some of the words might be difficult to understand. Please refer to the
Reading Glossary in the right frame.
 |
|
Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first African-American poet to garner
national critical acclaim. Born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1872, Dunbar
penned a large body of dialect poems, standard English poems, essays,
novels and short stories before he died at the age of 33. His work
often addressed the difficulties encountered by members of his race
and the efforts of African-Americans to achieve equality in America.
He was praised both by the prominent literary critics of his time
and his literary contemporaries.
(Excerpted from the Paul Laurence Dunbar Website. Click on this
link for more details about Dunbar's life.)
|
WE WEAR THE MASK
|
| |
 E 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 oh 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! |
| |
|
|
Listen to two versions of the poem.
|
|
