Lyrics of Love and Laughter
A Spiritual
by Paul Laurence Dunbar
"De ‘cession’s stahted on de gospel way,"
"De ‘cession’s stahted on de gospel way,"
The Emperor learns to appreciate the nightingale.
"Dream days of fond delight and hours"
A poem about the speaker as a piper who writes his songs down so that every child may enjoy them.
"My cot was down by a cypress grove,"
"Step wid de banjo an’ glide wid de fiddle,"
"De night creep down erlong de lan’,"
A princess dreams of her husband-to-be and his death.
Oh, summer has clothed the earth
"Dey was oncet a awful quoil ‘twixt de skillet an’ de pot;"
A robin has a meal under an orange-tree.
"Oh, I am hurt to death, my Love;"
A nonsense poem about an owl and pussy-cat that get married.
"When labor is light and the morning is fair,"
The Florida Landscape changes as sunrise moves to sunset.
Baby Pinky is sick and wakes up the whole household with his crying. They take her to the hospital to make her well again.
"Summah night an’ sighin’ breeze,"
"I ’s feelin’ kin’ o’ lonesome in my little room to–night,"
"By rugged ways and thro’ the night"
In the heavy earth the miner
"Jes’ lak toddy wahms you thoo’"
Jorindel must rescue his bride to be from the spell of a fairy.
Lamentation for the loss of a loved one.
A child trudges up to bed.
"I’s a–gittin’ weary of de way dat people do,"