Lit2Go

This is a collection of poetry by African American author Paul Laurence Dunbar. Dunbar's work frequently features a conversational tone, innovative rhetorical structure, and a colorful use of both dialect and mainstream English. Dunbar was among the first nationally successful African American writers.

Source: Dunbar, P.L. (1913). The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company.

"Ere Sleep Comes Down To Soothe The Weary Eyes"

"Ere Sleep Comes Down To Soothe The Weary Eyes"

"The Poet and His Song"

"A song is but a little thing,"

"Retort"

"“Thou art a fool,” said my head to my heart,"

"Accountability"

"Folks ain’t got no right to censuah othah folks about dey habits;"

"Frederick Douglass"

"A hush is over all the teeming lists,"

"Life"

"A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in,"

"The Lesson"

"My cot was down by a cypress grove,"

"The Rising of the Storm"

"The lake’s dark breast"

"Sunset"

"The river sleeps beneath the sky,"

"The Old Apple-Tree"

"There’s a memory keeps a–runnin’"

"A Prayer"

"O Lord, the hard–won miles"

"Passion and Love"

"A maiden wept and, as a comforter,"

"The Seedling"

"As a quiet little seedling"

"Promise"

"I grew a rose within a garden fair,"

"Fulfilment"

"I grew a rose once more to please mine eyes."

"Song"

"My heart to thy heart,"

"An Ante-Bellum Sermon"

"We is gathahed hyeah, my brothahs,"

"Ode to Ethiopia"

"O Mother Race! to thee I bring"

"The Corn-Stalk Fiddle"

"When the corn ’s all cut and the bright stalks shine"

"The Master-Player"

"An old, worn harp that had been played"

"The Mystery"

"I was not; now I am—a few days hence"

"Not They Who Soar"

"Not they who soar, but they who plod"

"Whittier"

"Not o’er thy dust let there be spent"

"Two Songs"

"A bee that was searching for sweets one day"

"A Banjo Song"

"Oh, dere ’s lots o’ keer an’ trouble"

"Longing"

"If you could sit with me beside the sea to–day,"

"The Path"

"There are no beaten paths to Glory’s height,"

"The Lawyer's Way"

"I ‘ve been list’nin’ to them lawyers"

"Ode for Memorial Day"

"Done are the toils and the wearisome marches,"

"Premonition"

"Dear heart, good–night!"

"Retrospection"

"When you and I were young, the days"

"Unexpressed"

"Deep in my heart that aches with the repression,"

"Song of Summer"

"Dis is gospel weathah sho’—"

"Spring Song"

"A blue–bell springs upon the ledge,"

"To Louise"

"Oh, the poets may sing of their Lady Irenes,"

"The Rivals"

"‘T was three an’ thirty year ago,"

"The Lover and the Moon"

"A lover whom duty called over the wave,"

"Conscience and Remorse"

"“Good–bye,” I said to my conscience—"

"Ione"

"Ah, yes, ‘t is sweet still to remember,"

"Religion"

"I am no priest of crooks nor creeds,"

"Deacon Jones' Grievance"

"I ‘ve been watchin’ of ‘em, parson,"

"Alice"

"Know you, winds that blow your course"

"After the Quarrel"

"So we, who ‘ve supped the self–same cup,"

"Beyond the Years"

"Beyond the years the answer lies,"

"After a Visit"

"I be’n down in ole Kentucky"

"Curtain"

"Villain shows his indiscretion,"

"The Spellin'-Bee"

"I never shall furgit that night when father hitched up Dobbin,"

"Keep a-plugging Away"

"I ‘ve a humble little motto"

"Night of Love"

"The moon has left the sky, love,"

"Columbian Ode"

"Four hundred years ago a tangled waste"

"A Border Ballad"

"Oh, I have n’t got long to live, for we all"

"An Easy-goin' Feller"

"Ther’ ain’t no use in all this strife,"

"A Negro Love Song"

"Seen my lady home las’ night,"

"The Dilletante: A Modern Type"

"He scribbles some in prose and verse,"

"By the Stream"

"By the stream I dream in calm delight, and watch as in a glass,"

"The Colored Soldiers"

"If the muse were mine to tempt it"

"Nature and Art" (To My Friend Charles Booth Nettleton)

"The young queen Nature, ever sweet and fair,"

"After While" (A Poem of Faith)

"I think that though the clouds be dark,"

"The Ol' Tunes"

"You kin talk about yer anthems"

"Melancholia"

"Silently without my window,"

"The Wooing"

"A youth went faring up and down,"

"Merry Autumn"

"It’s all a farce,—these tales they tell"

"When De Co'n Pone's Hot"

"Dey is times in life when Nature"

"Ballad"

"I know my love is true,"

"The Change has Come"

"The change has come, and Helen sleeps—"

"Comparison"

"The sky of brightest gray seems dark"

"A Corn-Song"

"On the wide veranda white,"

"Discovered"

"Seen you down at chu’ch las’ night,"

"Disappointed"

"An old man planted and dug and tended,"

"Invitation to Love"

"Come when the nights are bright with stars"

"He had His Dream"

"He had his dream, and all through life,"

"Good-Night"

"The lark is silent in his nest,"

"A Coquette Conquered"

"Yes, my ha’t ’s ez ha’d ez stone—"

"Nora: A Serenade"

"Ah, Nora, my Nora, the light fades away,"

"October"

"October is the treasurer of the year,"

"A Summer's Night"

"The night is dewy as a maiden’s mouth,"

"Ships that Pass in the Night"

"Out in the sky the great dark clouds are massing;

"The Delinquent"

"Goo’–by, Jinks, I got to hump,"

"Dawn"

"An angel, robed in spotless white,"

"A Drowsy Day"

"The air is dark, the sky is gray,"

"Dirge"

"Place this bunch of mignonette"

"Hymn"

"When storms arise"

"Preparation"

"The little bird sits in the nest and sings"

"The Deserted Plantation"

"Oh, de grubbin’–hoe ’s a–rustin’ in de co’nah,"

"The Secret"

"What says the wind to the waving trees?"

"The Wind and the Sea"

"I stood by the shore at the death of day,"

"Riding to Town"

"When labor is light and the morning is fair,"

"We Wear the Mask"

"We wear the mask that grins and lies,"

"The Meadow Lark"

"Though the winds be dank,"

"One Life"

"Oh, I am hurt to death, my Love;"

"Changing Time"

"The cloud looked in at the window,"

"Dead"

"A knock is at her door, but she is weak;"

"A Confidence"

"Uncle John, he makes me tired;"

"Phyllis"

"Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day,"

"Right's Security"

"What if the wind do howl without,"

"If"

"If life were but a dream, my Love,"

"The Song"

"My soul, lost in the music’s mist,"

"Signs of the Times"

"Air a–gittin’ cool an’ coolah,"

"Why Fades a Dream"

"Why fades a dream?"

"The Sparrow"

"A little bird, with plumage brown,"

"Speakin' o' Christmas"

"Breezes blowin’ middlin’ brisk,"

"Lonesome"

"Mother ’s gone a–visitin’ to spend a month er two,"

"Growin' Gray"

"Hello, ole man, you ‘re a–gittin’ gray,"

"To the Memory of Mary Young"

"God has his plans, and what if we"

"When Malindy Sings"

"G’way an’ quit dat noise, Miss Lucy—"

"The Party"

"Dey had a gread big pahty down to Tom’s de othah night;"

Year Published: 1913
Language: English
Country of Origin: United States of America
Readability:
• Flesch–Kincaid Level: 6.5
Word Count: 30,399
Genre: Poetry
Keywords: art, author, battle, bloom, boat, celebration, challenge, childhood, comfort, dance, death, destiny, dream, dreaming, dreams, dusk, eternal, evil, faith, family, fate, fish, freedom, friendship, garden, good, grow, growth, happiness, harp, hatred, hero, injustice, jealousy, journey, joy, lake, laughter, laziness, life, loss, love, music, nature, night, ocean, pain, poet, religion, remember, rememberance, rose, sadness, sea, sing, slavery, society, song, summer, trials, war, wife, wind, writer, writing, youth
✎ Cite This
Share |
Available on iTunes U