Paul Laurence Dunbar Poems

ON a summer's day as I sat by a stream,
A dainty maid came by,
And she blessed my sight like a rosy dream,
...

Over the hills and the valleys of dreaming
Slowly I take my way.
Life is the night with its dream-visions teeming,
...

When de fiddle gits to singin' out a ol' Vahginny reel,
An' you 'mence to feel a ticklin' in yo' toe an' in yo' heel;
...

MAMMY'S in de kitchen, an' de do' is shet;
All de pickaninnies climb an' tug an' sweat,
Gittin' to de winder, stickin' dah lak flies,
...

The word is writ that he who runs may read.
What is the passing breath of earthly fame?
But to snatch glory from the hands of blame--
...

I.
AH, yes, 't is sweet still to remember,
Though 't were less painful to forget;
For while my heart glows like an ember,
...

THE moon has left the sky, love,
The stars are hiding now,
And frowning on the world, love,
...

I'VE a humble little motto
That is homely, though it's true, —
Keep a-pluggin' away.
It's a thing when I've an object
...

SO we, who've supped the self-same cup,
To-night must lay our friendship by;
Your wrath has burned your judgment up,
...

DE dog go howlin' 'long de road,
De night come shiverin' down;
My back is tiahed of its load,
...