Yeats turns a lovers’ quarrel into a small, teasing debate. One speaker begs the other to remove a striking disguise—a mask of burning gold with emerald eyes—to learn whether what lies behind is love or deceit. The masked speaker refuses, saying the mask itself caught the lover’s mind and set the heart beating; what is hidden is not the point. When the first speaker worries that the mask may conceal an enemy, the answer is playful and elusive: what matters is not proof or safety, but whether there is fire in both of them. The mood is intimate, elegant, and slightly dangerous—like flirtation conducted at arm’s length. The poem suggests that desire can depend on illusion, mystery, and the refusal to be fully known.
The Mask — Summary
'Put off that mask of burning gold With emerald eyes.' 'O no, my dear, you make so bold To find if hearts be wild and wise, And yet not cold.'
'I would but find what's there to find, Love or deceit.' 'It was the mask engaged your mind, And after set your heart to beat, Not what's behind.'
'But lest you are my enemy, I must enquire.' 'O no, my dear, let all that be, What matter, so there is but fire In you, in me?'