Classic and Contemporary Poetry
PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR, by JAMES DAVID CORROTHERS Poem Explanation Poet's Biography First Line: He came, a youth, singing in the dawn Last Line: And o'er your happy songs in plaudits rang. Subject(s): Dunbar, Paul Laurence (1872-1906) | ||||||||
He came, a youth, singing in the dawn Of a new freedom, glowing o'er his lyre, Refining, as with great Apollo's fire, His people's gift of song. And thereupon, This Negro singer, come to Helicon, Constrained the masters, listening to admire, And roused a race to wonder and aspire, Gazing which way their honest voice was gone, With ebon face uplit of glory's crest. Men marveled at the singer, strong and sweet, Who brought the cabin's mirth, the tuneful night, But faced the morning, beautiful with light, To die while shadows yet fell toward the west, And leave his laurels at his people's feet. Dunbar, no poet wears your laurels now; None rises, singing, from your race like you. Dark melodist, immortal, though the dew Fell early on the bays upon your brow, And tinged with pathos every halcyon vow And brave endeavor. Silence o'er you threw Flowerets of love. Or, if an envious few Of your own people brought no garlands, how Could malice smite him whom the gods had crowned? If, like the meadowlark, your flight was low, Your flooded lyrics half the hilltops drowned; A wide world heard you, and it loved you so, It stilled its heart to list the strains you sang, And o'er your happy songs in plaudits rang. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EPITAPH: FOR PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR by COUNTEE CULLEN PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR by ROBERT EARL HAYDEN ME 'N' DUNBAR by JAMES DAVID CORROTHERS ANSWER TO DUNBAR'S 'AFTER A VISIT' by JOSEPH SEAMON COTTER SR. IN MEMORIAM: PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR by HENRIETTA CORDELIA RAY FOR PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR by LINDA CARTER BROWN HISTORIC EPISODES by PETER WELLINGTON CLARK EPITAPH: FOR PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR by COUNTEE CULLEN AN INDIGNATION DINNER by JAMES DAVID CORROTHERS |
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