Lyrics of Love and Laughter
by Paul Laurence Dunbar
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.
- Two Little Boots
- "Two little boots all rough an’ wo’,"
- To the Road
- "Cool is the wind, for the summer is waning,"
- A Spring Wooing
- "Come on walkin’ wid me, Lucy; ‘t ain’t no time to mope erroun’"
- Joggin' Erlong
- "De da’kest hour, dey allus say,"
- In May
- "Oh to have you in May,"
- Dreams
- "What dreams we have and how they fly"
- The Tryst
- "De night creep down erlong de lan’,"
- A Plea
- "Treat me nice, Miss Mandy Jane,"
- The Dove
- "Out of the sunshine and out of the heat,"
- A Warm Day in Winter
- "“Sunshine on de medders,"
- Snowin'
- "Dey is snow upon de meddahs, dey is snow upon de hill,"
- Keep a Song Up on de Way
- "Oh, de clouds is mighty heavy"
- The Turning of the Babies in the Bed
- "Woman’s sho’ a cur’ous critter, an’ dey ain’t no doubtin’ dat."
- The Dance
- "Heel and toe, heel and toe,"
- Soliloquy of a Turkey
- "Dey ’s a so’t o’ threatenin’ feelin’ in de blowin’ of de breeze,"
- Fishing
- "Wen I git up in de mo’nin’ an’ de clouds is big an’ black,"
- A Plantation Portrait
- "Hain’t you see my Mandy Lou,"
- A Little Christmas Basket
- "De win’ is hollahin’ “Daih you” to de shuttahs an’ de fiah,"
- The Valse
- "When to sweet music my lady is dancing"
- Response
- "When Phyllis sighs and from her eyes"
- My Sweet Brown Gal
- "W’en de clouds is hangin’ heavy in de sky,"
- Spring Fever
- "Grass commence a–comin’"
- The Visitor
- "Little lady at de do’,"
- Song
- "Wintah, summah, snow er shine,"
- The Colored Band
- Wen de colo’ed ban’ comes ma’chin’ down de street,
- To a Violet on All Saint's Day
- "Belated wanderer of the ways of spring, Lost in the chill of grim November rain,"
- Inspiration
- "At the golden gate of song"
- My Lady of Castle Grand
- "Gray is the palace where she dwells,"
- Drizzle
- "Hit ’s been drizzlin’ an’ been sprinklin’,"
- De Critters' Dance
- "Ain’t nobody nevah tol’ you not a wo’d a–tall,"
- When Dey 'Listed Colored Soldiers
- "Dey was talkin’ in de cabin, dey was talkin’ in de hall;"
- Lincoln
- "Hurt was the nation with a mighty wound,"
- Encouragement
- "Who dat knockin’ at de do’?"
- The Boogah Man
- "W’en de evenin’ shadders"
- The Wraith
- "Ah me, it is cold and chill"
- Silence
- "‘T is better to sit here beside the sea,"
- Whip–Poor–Will and Katy–Did
- "Slow de night ’s a–fallin’,"
- Long To'ds Night
- "Daih ’s a moughty soothin’ feelin’"
- A Grievance
- "Wen de snow ’s a–fallin’"
- Dinah Kneading Dough
- "I have seen full many a sight"
- To a Captious Critic
- "Dear critic, who my lightness so deplores,"
- Dat Ol' Mare O' Mine
- "Want to trade me, do you, mistah? Oh, well, now, I reckon not,"
- In the Morning
- "‘Lias! ‘Lias! Bless de Lawd!"
- The Poet
- "He sang of life, serenely sweet,"
- A Florida Night
- "Win’ a–blowin’ gentle so de san’ lay low,"
- Differences
- "My neighbor lives on the hill,"
- Long Ago
- "De ol’ time’s gone, de new time’s hyeah"
- A Plantation Melody
- "De trees is bendin’ in de sto’m,"
- A Spiritual
- "De ‘cession’s stahted on de gospel way,"
- The Memory of Martha
- "Out in de night a sad bird moans,"
- W'en I Gits Home
- "It’s moughty tiahsome layin’ ‘roun’"
- 'Howdy, Honey, Howdy'
- "Do’ a–stan’in’ on a jar, fiah a–shinin’ thoo,"
- The Unsung Heroes
- "A song for the unsung heroes who rose in the country’s need,"
- The Pool
- "By the pool that I see in my dreams, dear love,"
- Possession
- "Whose little lady is you, chile,"
- The Old Front Gate
- "W’en daih ’s chillun in de house,"
- Dirge for a Soldier
- "In the east the morning comes,"
- A Frolic
- "Swing yo’ lady roun’ an’ roun’,"
- Noddin' By De Fire
- "Some folks t’inks hit’s right an’ p’opah,"
- Love's Castle
- "Key and bar, key and bar,"
- Morning Song of Love
- "Darling, my darling, my heart is on the wing,"
- On a Clean Book (To F.N.)
- "Like sea–washed sand upon the shore,"
- To the Eastern Shore
- "I ’s feelin’ kin’ o’ lonesome in my little room to–night,"
- Reluctance
- "Will I have some mo’ dat pie?"
- Ballade
- "By Mystic’s banks I held my dream."
- Speakin' At De Cou't–House
- "Dey been speakin’ at de cou’t–house,"
- Black Samson of Brandywine
- "“In the fight at Brandywine, Black Samson, a giant negro armed witha scythe, sweeps his way through the red ranks….”"
- The Looking-Glass
- "Dinah stan’ befo’ de glass,"
- A Misty Day
- "Heart of my heart, the day is chill,"
- Li'l' Gal
- "Oh, de weathah it is balmy an’ de breeze is sighin’ low."
- Douglass
- "Ah, Douglass, we have fall’n on evil days,"
- When Sam'l Sings
- "Hyeah dat singin’ in de medders"
- Booker T. Washington
- "The word is writ that he who runs may read."
- The Monk's Walk
- "In this sombre garden close"
- Love-Song
- "If Death should claim me for her own to–day,"
- Slow Through the Dark
- "Slow moves the pageant of a climbing race;"
- The Murdered Lover
- "Say a mass for my soul’s repose, my brother,"
- Philosophy
- "I been t’inkin’ ‘bout de preachah; whut he said de othah night,"
- Preference
- "Mastah drink his ol’ Made’a,"
- The Debt
- "This is the debt I pay"
- On the Dedication of Dorothy Hall (Tuskeegee, AL., April 22, 1901)
- "Not to the midnight of the gloomy past,"
- A Roadway
- "Let those who will stride on their barren roads"
- By Rugged Ways
- "By rugged ways and thro’ the night"
- Love's Season
- "When the bees are humming in the honeysuckle vine"
- To a Dead Friend
- "It is as if a silver chord"
- To the South—On Its New Slavery
- "Heart of the Southland, heed me pleading now,"
- The Haunted Oak
- "Pray why are you so bare, so bare,"
- Weltschmertz
- "You ask why I am sad to–day,"
- Robert Gould Shaw
- "Why was it that the thunder voice of Fate"
- Roses
- "Oh, wind of the spring–time, oh, free wind of May,"
- A Love Song
- "Ah, love, my love is like a cry in the night,"
- Itching Heels
- "Fu’ de peace o’ my eachin’ heels, set down;"
- To an Ingrate
- "This is to–day, a golden summer’s day"
- In the Tents of Akbar
- "In the tents of Akbar, Are dole and grief to–day,"
- The Fount of Tears
- "All hot and grimy from the road,"
- Life's Tragedy
- "It may be misery not to sing at all"
- De Way T'ings Come
- "De way t’ings come, hit seems to me,"
- Noon
- "Shadder in de valley"
- At the Tavern
- "A lilt and a swing, And a ditty to sing,"
- Death
- "Storm and strife and stress,"
- Night, Dim Night
- "Night, dim night, and it rains, my love, it rains,"