“We Wear the Mask,” written by Paul Laurence Dunbar is a realist poem about feigning happiness as a means to disguise true feelings and emotions. The speaker frequently claims that they and others wear a mask of smiles and grins to portray a superficial contentment. In the second stanza, the speaker questions why the world cares about one’s true feelings, yet only chooses to recognize the mask as one’s true feelings. In the third and final stanza, the speaker admits that walking and existing behind the mask is painful, however the mask, the façade of joy and cheerfulness. In this poem, “we” refers to anyone and the mask is worn to conceal the realities of stressors in one’s life. In this realist poem, the speaker expresses that, “we wear
