Let's Wear the Mask “Let's Wear the Mask” is a short poem written by Paul Laurence Dunbar in 1895. It is written in iambic tetrameter and has many symbols throughout its stanzas. These symbols show the struggle that Black Americans have to live with in society and the difficulties they face on a daily basis. The symbols represented in this poem could be identified as the mask, the smile, the word we. This article will discuss how the use of these symbols makes this poem a recognizable piece, even in the present day, as the struggle for Black Americans to live happily continues to exist. In the first stanza, lines 1-5, the mask symbol is mentioned for the first time. Masks are often used to hide one's face and intentions from those around them. In the first line, it is the very first word that carries the phrase "We wear the mask that smiles and lies", (1), this line also contains two other possible symbols of the mask and the smile, making it a rather important introduction. The use of we in the opening stanza could be a method on the speaker's part to include the reader in the overall look of "we," but is more likely referring to the black community as a whole as it suffers from racism and degradation in America. . In line 3, it reads “this debt we pay to human cunning” (3), leads the reader to believe that the speaker is trying to include them in the struggle to wear a mask of lies by sharing the experience of “human cunning ". (3) and how we repay a debt to society. However, the debt of a black American was probably much more severe than that of a white American, especially in the year 1895, when this poem was published. In line 4, we are mentioned once again, saying “With hearts torn and bleeding we smile” (4), which is a slightly more specific use of the word we. Here, the reader is likely able to relate the use of this we to the we of Black Americans, as many Black Americans were left torn and bleeding with their hearts and desires destroyed. The fact that the wounds are still bleeding might suggest the possibility that the wounds are still quite fresh, and since the poem is set before 1900, the reader is able to conclude that these wounds are indeed fresh, like the lives of slaves and of slaves. the property had just begun to decline. In line 9, “We wear the mask,” (9), is repeated once more, and then again in line 15. This line contains the other symbol, the mask, and is a crucial line to the poem. In line 10, the poem reads, “We smile, but O great Christ, our cries” (10). In this line, just like the use of the word sing, the word we could be used to demonstrate that we, the black society in America,