Share this poem:
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Paul Laurence Dunbar
(1872-1906 / Ohio / United States)
Poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar : 8 / 424
A Choice - Poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar
They please me not-- these solemn songs
That hint of sermons covered up.
'T is true the world should heed its wrongs,
But in a poem let me sup,
Not simples brewed to cure or ease
Humanity's confessed disease,
But the spirit-wine of a singing line,
Or a dew-drop in a honey cup!
Poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar : 8 / 424
Read this poem in other languages
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem »
Read poems about / on: poem, world, song
Poem Submitted: Friday, January 3, 2003
Paul Laurence Dunbar's Other Poems
Famous Poems
-
Still I Rise
Maya Angelou
-
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost
-
If You Forget Me
Pablo Neruda
-
Dreams
Langston Hughes
-
Annabel Lee
Edgar Allan Poe
-
Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Robert Frost
-
If
Rudyard Kipling
-
Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep
Mary Elizabeth Frye
-
I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You
Pablo Neruda
-
Television
Roald Dahl
Such a good write by Paul Laurence Dunbar👍👍👍 (Report) Reply
To cure or ease! ! Thanks for sharing this poem with us. (Report) Reply
The choice- be and let be- well expressed. (Report) Reply
Tossed between propriety and the fitness of things there is a choice........well master craft by master poet........
thanks for sharing (Report) Reply
I dislike politically based poetry- especially concerning a past I have no knowledge of. But there are followers of this kind. In the end, viva la difference (Report) Reply
Your instincts are right. Poetry that tells us what to do is inferior poetry. It is the purpose of poetry to show problems, not to instruct us in what is moral or try to fix problems. That there are followers of this kind of poetry does not absolve them from wrongheadedness. They are not just different; they are wrong.
I think poetry should be seen as a mode of expression, rather than an agenda. So it should allow all agendas: -) (Report) Reply
No! It should allow NO agendas! When a poem is loaded down with an agenda, it becomes propaganda. Poetry is an articulation of what is, not an articulation of WHAT WE SHOULD DO. Its purpose is to show, to illuminate, not to coax or direct us to action or moral improvement.
when the world causes pain... poetry is their to soothe it... (Report) Reply
No. Poetry is not there to soothe pain; it is there to show the exact nature of pain. A poem does not fix problems; it shows problems. Its goal is an awakening of the understanding, of the mind's perception of truth. We don't watch King Lear to help geriatrics; we watch it to understand old age.