wear the mask 

Wear the mask refer to hiding true self behind a mask. Poet Paul Laurence Dunbar wrote the literary renowned poem "We Wear the Mask" that has been the subject of various literary criticisms over the years. Because of the poem’s indirectness and generalized ambiguity, the interpretation of the “we” that wears the “mask” and why they do so is left unanimously undisclosed. Some argue that the subject is the black while others argue that the subject is all mankind. No matter who was Dunbar's subject, it's agreed that wear the mask describes to hide behind a “mask” that conceals our true emotions and selves.

Paul Laurence Dunbar
For both of us, serenity has been an unfulfilled task.
Overwhelming pain and sorrow filled our brittle cask.
To disguise my pain and sorrow, I too wear the mask.

wear the mask by spen53 May 23, 2018