Identify the verbs and adjectives that denote an emotional tone, for example вЂgrins and liesвЂ™ and вЂtears and sighsвЂ™, and think about how you can imply these emotions using only your voice for an evocative recitation. It is generally considered one of his most famous works and has been cited by several scholars.

Who do you think вЂweвЂ™ and вЂthemвЂ™ refer to? What might the speaker be gaining by letting вЂthem only see usвЂ™ and letting вЂthe world dream otherwiseвЂ™? We Wear the Mask is an 1895 poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar. In reading the lines вЂThis debt we pay to human guileвЂ™ and вЂO great Christ, our cries / To thee from tortured souls ariseвЂ™, how would you describe the speakerвЂ™s relationship to humanity, and to the god figure he calls upon?

How does the metaphor of the mask evolve between the first two lines and the last two lines of the poem? How does the poemвЂ™s rondeau structure reinforce its message? In one of Paul Lawrence Dunbars most famous poems We Wear the Mask, he describes the harsh reality of the black race in America and how they hide their. A rondeau is a French poetic form composed of 15 lines, each of which contains between eight and 10 syllables. This debt we pay to human guile With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, And mouth with myriad subtleties.

We wear the mask poem