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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE POET AND THE BABY by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR

First Line: HOW'S A MAN TO WRITE A SONNET, CAN YOU TELL
Last Line: THAT I WONDER WHAT 'S THE USE OF WRITING MINE.
Subject(s): CHILDREN; MOTHERS; POETRY & POETS; CHILDHOOD;

How's a man to write a sonnet, can you tell, --
How's he going to weave the dim, poetic spell, --
When a-toddling on the floor
Is the muse he must adore,
And this muse he loves, not wisely, but too well?

Now, to write a sonnet, every one allows,
One must always be as quiet as a mouse;
But to write one seems to me
Quite superfluous to be,
When you've got a little sonnet in the house.

Just a dainty little poem, true and fine,
That is full of love and life in every line,
Earnest, delicate, and sweet,
Altogether so complete
That I wonder what 's the use of writing mine.



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