"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!"
This is a perfect poem displaying the emotions of the African-American race of that time.
It has a repetitive structure and it rhymes and kind of has a swing to it like a jazz or blues song.
This poem is about how African-Americans must mask their real emotions because they must conform to what the World thinks of African Americans.
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