“Cheeks” often indicate how we’re feeling (think of blushing) and “eyes” are thought to be the windows to our soul. So if both of these are “hidden,” then we know we’re not showing how we really feel.

Amherst, Massachusetts

In 1855, Dickinson ventured outside of Amherst, as far as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Emily and sister Lavinia served as chief caregivers for their ailing mother until she passed away in 1882. Neither Emily nor her sister ever married and lived together at the Homestead until their respective deaths.

The “clay” here is the earth but it may also be a reference to the origins of man: “Remember that you have made me like clay” (Job 10:8-12). So the speaker is saying that they’re singing through the pain while standing above the earth that’s “vile” (wicked) because it provides only pain and suffering for these folks.

It says that the mask that people wear grins and lies meaning it is deceiving. This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, In lines 8 and 9 the speaker is saying that instead of the world seeing the truth they just see the masks and lies.

The “we” that we get in Dunbar’s poem is primarily directed towards black American people as a whole. However, we can also read it in a more general sense that’s focused on all people.

The mask symbolizes how blacks must hide who they really are to navigate in white society. Because they are viewed as stereotypes, blacks must pretend to be what white people expect them to be.

‘We Wear the Mask’ by Paul Laurence Dunbar is a three-stanza poem which is separated into one set of five lines, one of four, and one of six. The poem is structured in the form of a rondeau. This form is defined by having 10-15 lines and being organized into three stanzas.