"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 the 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!
Read "We Wear the Mask," by Paul Laurence Dunbar, then answer the question that follows. Explain why Dunbar would choose to use a symbol of a bleeding heart in his poem instead of using literal language to explain how he feels.
