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Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906 / Ohio / United States)
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Dunbar was born in Dayton, Ohio to parents who had escaped from slavery; his father was a veteran of the American Civil War, having served in the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and the 5th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry Regiment. His parents instilled in him a love of learning and history. He was a student at an all-white high school, Dayton Central High School, and he participated actively as a student. During high school, he was both the editor of the school newspaper and class president, as well as the president of the school literary society. Dunbar had also started the first African-American newsletter in Dayton.
He wrote his first poem at age 6 and gave his first public... more »
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Popular Poems
- A Back-Log Song
- A Banjo Song
- A Border Ballad
- A Boy's Summer Song
- A Bridal Measure
- A Cabin Tale
- A Career
- A Choice
- A Christmas Folksong
- A Confidence
- A Coquette Conquered
- A Corn-Song
- A Death Song
- A Drowsy Day
Quotations
more quotations »-
''Lay me down beneaf de willers in de grass,
Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), U.S. poet. A Death Song (l. 1-2). . . Poetry of the Negro, The, 1746-1970. Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps, ed...
Whah de branch'll go a-singin' as it pass.''
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''Fu' I t'ink de las' long res'
Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), U.S. poet. A Death Song (l. 13-15). . . Poetry of the Negro, The, 1746-1970. Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps, ...
Gwine to soothe my sperrit bes'
If I's layin' 'mong de t'ings I's allus knowed.''
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''An angel, robed in spotless white,
Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), U.S. poet. Dawn (l. 1-4). . . American Negro Poetry. Arna Bontemps, ed. (Rev. ed., 1974) Hill and Wang.
Bent down and kissed the sleeping Night.
Night woke to blush; the sprite was gone.
Men saw the blush and called it Dawn.''
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''And catch the gleaming of a random light,
Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), U.S. poet. Ships That Pass in the Night (l. 4-5). . . Anthology of American Poetry. George Gesner, ed. (1983) Av...
That tells me that the ship I seek is passing, passing.''
Incredible men should not be forgotten. Thank you Mr. Dunbar for your works.
I live on his street (N.P.L. DUNBAR ST., DAYTON, OH.,) and i am in sheer awe, as a poet myself, of the brilliance and talent of this precious man who lived 33 yrs. What a talent, and his final home is so beautiful! r.i.p. Paul.
I remember reading Paul Dunbar in high school and in a college poetry course. His words are not only profound, but they also read like music to the ears. He speaks from the heart about feelings that are not only evoking the black experience, but life experience. Try reading his poems aloud especially those in dialect. It's worth the extra effort.
Paul Laurence Dunbar is the greatest example of what was wrong with Thomas Jefferson's views that blacks had no sense of poetry. Sure, he wrote in the sty; e of the most noted white poets of the day. But there are powerful metaphors in his words that are sometimes sad. Mostly, though he proved that education would render Jefferson wrong. His mother, while a slave, took in as much as she could from the poetry readings in the house where she worked. Did T.J., have such events? Paul learned the power of education from her. The other idiots who left there comments here know nothing about history and sound as if they think Dunbar was writing this stuff today, like a rap artist.
ben