"We Wear the Mask" exaggerates the contradiction between manifestation and reality, particularly as this conflict relates to what the speaker seems to say and what he 's saying. The people wearing the mask represent individuals who tend to hide their true feelings in front of others to disguise any grief, depression, or commotion that they might be facing at the present moment. The speaker notes that individuals often hide their true feelings because of the fact that they are scared people wouldn't accept them for who they are by mentioning phrases like, "Nay, let them only see us, while We wear the mask (8,9)." After describing the most important aspects of how the people react to their surroundings, he emphasizes in the second to last lines "let the world dream otherwise (15)" until the day they die, which infers that they wouldn't change their substandard and burdensome status. The speaker seems to be saying in the simplest form that people will continue to hide their true feelings from their peers.
             However, the poem begins with several peculiarities that suggest that the speaker is saying more than what he says initially. For example, the poem is a sonnet that follows an aabbc rhyme scheme using an iambic tetrameter. In fact, the poet chose to write a sonnet about people who could relate to the African-American struggle suggests that the people behind the mask are slaves hiding their true feelings from their Caucasian masters and peers. Also, the words used in the first two lines seem awkward compared to a normal speaking voice: "We wear the mask that grins and lies,/ It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes--" (1,2). These particular lines leave you imagining a picture of a fraudulent face that is displaying dishonesty. The odd syntax continues when he personifies the heart of humans: "With torn and bleeding hearts we smile(4)." Here the speaker is declaring that although the individuals are heart-broken and hurting on th...