We Wear the Mask
By 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!
***
Another poem I found in the poetry spinner. I may have to get the book for this guy, though - he strikes me as a sort of ur-Langston Hughes, who, in case you haven't noticed from the number of times I've posted his poetry here, I kinda like.
Mainly, I love how the poet is able to set up rhyme and metric expectations, which he then shatters with his "We wear the mask" line. It's far more effectively done than most emo poetry on the same subject could ever hope to do.
2 comments:
...what a wonderful share of semtiments in a rather formal & classical tone...layered lightly but hitting hard..rhymes are well spunned & pretty much even with the metre.. i liked the lines that says about debt we pay to haman guile & the over wise issue...enjoyed the read...smiles...
This reminds me of my favorite quote to quote: "The mask given time becomes the face."
Post a Comment