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 overwise,
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!
He points out to the suffering of the black people and that they felt the need to paint a happy face; hide behind a mask. He emphasises that the slaves seemed happy when in reality, they were suffering and were in agony. He uses the repetition of the title within the poem to make it sound more powerful. It’s a strong poem that inspired the poets of the Harlem Renaissance.
Dunbar uses multiple literary devices in the poem. He uses metaphor, assonance, personification, hyperbole and onomatopoeia. He uses the repetition of the title within the poem and alliteration at the beginning of each stanza to make it sound more powerful.
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 overwise,
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!
He points out to the suffering of the black people and that they felt the need to paint a happy face; hide behind a mask. He emphasises that the slaves seemed happy when in reality, they were suffering and were in agony. He uses the repetition of the title within the poem to make it sound more powerful. It’s a strong poem that inspired the poets of the Harlem Renaissance.
Dunbar uses multiple literary devices in the poem. He uses metaphor, assonance, personification, hyperbole and onomatopoeia. He uses the repetition of the title within the poem and alliteration at the beginning of each stanza to make it sound more powerful.
Sympathy by Paul Laurence Dunbar
I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals--
I know what the caged bird feels!
I know why the caged bird beats his wing
Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting--
I know why he beats his wing!
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,--
When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings--
I know why the caged bird sings!
The poem “Sympathy” is a metaphor for being a black male during the 1800s. He uses a black dialect in his poems along the common English and it creates an authentic mood. The poem is about a bird who is peeking outside his cage and sees a beautiful landscape with the sun shining bright. Dunbar states that he knows how the bird feels because he’s simply in the same situation. He was a son of slaves and he knew what it felt like to be trapped.
Dunbar uses metaphor, alliteration and simile in this poem. He repeats the letter “w” and it sounds like a song. There’s the word “like” in Line 4 and that’s simile. The whole poem is a metaphor itself because he relates his life to a bird in a cage.
I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals--
I know what the caged bird feels!
I know why the caged bird beats his wing
Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting--
I know why he beats his wing!
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,--
When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings--
I know why the caged bird sings!
The poem “Sympathy” is a metaphor for being a black male during the 1800s. He uses a black dialect in his poems along the common English and it creates an authentic mood. The poem is about a bird who is peeking outside his cage and sees a beautiful landscape with the sun shining bright. Dunbar states that he knows how the bird feels because he’s simply in the same situation. He was a son of slaves and he knew what it felt like to be trapped.
Dunbar uses metaphor, alliteration and simile in this poem. He repeats the letter “w” and it sounds like a song. There’s the word “like” in Line 4 and that’s simile. The whole poem is a metaphor itself because he relates his life to a bird in a cage.