Black History Spotlight: The Short, Shining, Poetic Life Of Paul Laurence Dunbar
In his short yet prolific life, Dunbar used folk dialect to give voice and dignity to the experience of Black AmericansMinnita Daniel-Cox, University of Dayton (NewsOne)
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Tess
•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 over-wise,
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!
P.L.Dunbar
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