The poem explores the theme of mortality and the inevitability of death, using a mask as a metaphor for the human face that hides our true selves. The speaker creates a mask to conceal their emotions and thoughts, but ultimately realizes that it cannot protect them from the reality of death. The poem is a meditation on the transience of life and the futility of trying to escape or deny mortality.
By Dylan Thomas · First published 1945 · Genre: Poetry, Modernist, Symbolism