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 maskBut looks out of the mask by co-masked eyes.Whatever consciousness begins the taskThe 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 grimacesAnd 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.
Words in this poem
- foist n.
- A light and fast-sailing ship. Beau. & Fl. [OF. fuste stick, boat, fr. L. fustis cudgel. Cf. 1st Fust.]
- otherness n.
- The quality or state of being other or different; alterity; oppositeness.
- unmask v. t.
- To strip of a mask or disguise; to lay open; to expose. [1st pref. un- + mask.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sonnet VIII is in the public domain. This text is taken from 35 Sonnets, Project Gutenberg ebook #19978; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Fernando Pessoa, Sonnet VIII, in 35 Sonnets (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19978, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pessoa-35-sonnets/sonnet-viii.html, id L23637.
Form and metre
Sonnet VIII is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 73%).
See other English sonnets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCDCDEFEFGG undermasksA · whenB · unmasksA · plainB · maskC · eyesD · taskC · tiesD · facesE · losingF · grimacesE · causingF · maskingG · unmaskingG
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| How many masks wear we, and undermasks, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Upon our countenance of soul, and when, | 10 | ··//˘˘···· |
| If for self-sport the soul itself unmasks, | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| Knows it the last mask off and the face plain? | 10 | ·········· |
| The true mask feels no inside to the mask | 10 | ·····˘/··· |
| But looks out of the mask by co-masked eyes. | 10 | ·········· |
| Whatever consciousness begins the task | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/·· |
| The task’s accepted use to sleepness ties. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Like a child frighted by its mirrored faces, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Our souls, that children are, being thought-losing, | 11 | /··/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Foist otherness upon their seen grimaces | 11 | ·/˘˘····/˘˘ |
| And get a whole world on their forgot causing; | 11 | ·······˘//˘ |
| And, when a thought would unmask our soul’s masking, | 11 | ·····˘//·/˘ |
| Itself goes not unmasked to the unmasking. | 11 | ˘/··˘/··˘/˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.