Comparing The Poems They Wear The Mask And I Can T Face The Music

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In the poems “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and “I Can’t Face the Music” by Billie Holiday, it is shown that the effects of going through a painful experience is unbearable. At the start of the poem “We Wear the Mask”, Dunbar speaks to the reader in a depressed tone about hiding one's pain and emotions, saying, “We wear the mask that grins and lies,/ It hides our cheeks and shades our eye (...)/ With torn and bleeding hearts we smile” (Dunbar). This quote shows the way a person ignores the way they feel as if it were the best way to overcome it. The words “lies” and “hides” reflects a dejected tone which reveals his belief in happiness in being all a lie that is hidden. The phrase “We wear the mask that grins and lies” relates to the idea that people hide their feelings rather than confronting the difficult truth and overcome it, the “mask” is symbolized as the refusion of showing one's feelings or their external image rather than their internal sentiment. …show more content…

These ideas all relate to how pain is difficult to face and overcome. Additionally, the next poem shows another example of the way they were incapable of facing sadness and despair. In the poem, “I Can’t Face the Music”, Holiday talks to the reader about the struggle of facing a situation without hurting. Just before the quote, she expresess her sadness and then says, “I’m gonna end this misery/ My man has left me/ And I can’t face the music/ Without singin’ the blues” (Holiday 13-16). This quote shows how hurt she is to the point where suicidal thoughts appear into her mind. The word “misery” reflects a sad tone which implies that the way she feels is past being upsest and turned into a much greater feeling,

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