Sonnet VIII.
How many masks wear we, and undermasks, Upon our countenance of soul, and when, If for self-sport the soul itself unmasks, Knows it the last mask off and the face plain? The true mask feels no inside to the mask But looks out of the mask by co-masked eyes. Whatever consciousness begins the task The task's accepted use to sleepness ties. Like a child frighted by its mirrored faces, Our souls, that children are, being thought-losing, Foist otherness upon their seen grimaces And get a whole world on their forgot causing; And, when a thought would unmask our soul's masking, Itself goes not unmasked to the unmasking.
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"How many masks wear we, and undermasks,..."
Fernando Antnio Nogueira Pessoa's contribution to classic is further solidified by the brilliance found in "Sonnet VIII."... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...