Produced by Leonard Johnson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Illustration: Paul Lawrence Dunbar] THE COMPLETE POEMS OF PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR WITH THE INTRODUCTION TO "LYRICS OF LOWLY LIFE" BY W. D. HOWELLS NEW YORK DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 1922 Copyright 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905 BY THE CENTURY CO. Copyright 1897, 1898, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905 BY THE CURTIS PUBLISHING CO. Copyright 1898 BY THE OUTLOOK CO. Copyright 1898 BY J. B. WALKER Copyright 1903 BY W. H. GANNETT Copyright 1896, 1899, 1903, 1905, 1913 BY DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY PRINTED IN U. S. A. DEDICATIONS LYRICS OF LOWLY LIFE TO MY MOTHER LYRICS OF THE HEARTHSIDE TO ALICE LYRICS OF LOVE AND LAUGHTER TO MISS CATHERINE IMPEY LYRICS OF SUNSHINE AND SHADOW TO MRS. FRANK CONOVER WITH THANKS FOR HER LONG BELIEF INTRODUCTION TO LYRICS OF LOWLY LIFE I think I should scarcely trouble the reader with a special appeal in behalf of this book, if it had not specially appealed to me for reasons apart from the author's race, origin, and condition. The world is too old now, and I find myself too much of its mood, to care for the work of a poet because he is black, because his father and mother were slaves, because he was, before and after he began to write poems, an elevator-boy. These facts would certainly attract me to him as a man, if I knew him to have a literary ambition, but when it came to his literary art, I must judge it irrespective of these facts, and enjoy or endure it for what it was in itself. It seems to me that this was my experience with the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar when I found it in another form, and in justice to him I cannot wish that it should be otherwise with his readers here. Still, it will legitimately interest those who like to know the causes, or, if these may not be known, the sources, of things, to learn that the father and mother of the first poet of his race in our language were negroes without admixture of white blood. The father escaped from slavery in Kentucky to freedom in Canada, while there was still no hope of freedom otherwise; but the mother was freed by the events of the civil war, and came North to Ohio, where their son was born at Dayton, and grew up with such chances and mischances for mental training as everywhere befall the children of the poor. He has told me that his father picked up the trade of a plasterer, and when he had taught himself to read, loved chiefly to read history. The boy's mother shared his passion for literature, with a special love of poetry, and after the father died she struggled on in more than the poverty she had shared with him. She could value the faculty which her son showed first in prose sketches and attempts at fiction, and she was proud of the praise and kindness they won him among the people of the town, where he has never been without the warmest and kindest friends. In fact from every part of Ohio and from several cities of the adjoining States, there came letters in cordial appreciation of the critical recognition which it was my pleasure no less than my duty to offer Paul Dunbar's work in another place. It seemed to me a happy omen for him that so many people who had known him, or known of him, were glad of a stranger's good word; and it was gratifying to see that at home he was esteemed for the things he had done rather than because as the son of negro slaves he had done them. If a prophet is often without honor in his own country, it surely is nothing against him when he has it. In this case it deprived me of the glory of a discoverer; but that is sometimes a barren joy, and I am always willing to forego it. What struck me in reading Mr. Dunbar's poetry was what had already struck his friends in Ohio and Indiana, in Kentucky and Illinois. They had felt, as I felt, that however gifted his race had proven itself in music, in oratory, in several of the other arts, here was the first instance of an American negro who had evinced innate distinction in literature. In my criticism of his book I had alleged Dumas in France, and I had forgetfully failed to allege the far greater Pushkin in Russia; but these were both mulattoes, who might have been supposed to derive their qualities from white blood vastly more artistic than ours, and who were the creatures of an environment more favorable to their literary development. So far as I could remember, Paul Dunbar was the only man of pure African blood and of American civilization to feel the negro life aesthetically and express it lyrically. It seemed to me that this had come to its most modern consciousness in him, and that his brilliant and unique achievement was to have studied the American negro objectively, and to have represented him as he found him to be, with humor, with sympathy, and yet with what the reader must instinctively feel to be entire truthfulness. I said that a race which had come to this effect in any member of it, had attained civilization in him, and I permitted myself the imaginative prophecy that the hostilities and the prejudices which had so long constrained his race were destined to vanish in the arts; that these were to be the final proof that God had made of one blood all nations of men. I thought his merits positive and not comparative; and I held that if his black poems had been written by a white man, I should not have found them less admirable. I accepted them as an evidence of the essential unity of the human race, which does not think or feel, black in one and white in another, but humanly in all. Yet it appeared to me then, and it appears to me now, that there is a precious difference of temperament between the races which it would be a great pity ever to lose, and that this is best preserved and most charmingly suggested by Mr. Dunbar in those pieces of his where he studies the moods and traits of his race in its own accent of our English. We call such pieces dialect pieces for want of some closer phrase, but they are really not dialect so much as delightful personal attempts and failures for the written and spoken language. In nothing is his essentially refined and delicate art so well shown as in these pieces, which, as I ventured to say, described the range between appetite and emotion, with certain lifts far beyond and above it, which is the range of the race. He reveals in these a finely ironical perception of the negro's limitations, with a tenderness for them which I think so very rare as to be almost quite new. I should say, perhaps, that it was this humorous quality which Mr. Dunbar had added to our literature, and it would be this which would most distinguish him, now and hereafter. It is something that one feels in nearly all the dialect pieces; and I hope that in the present collection he has kept all of these in his earlier volume, and added others to them. But the contents of this book are wholly of his own choosing, and I do not know how much or little he may have preferred the poems in literary English. Some of these I thought very good, and even more than very good, but not distinctively his contribution to the body of American poetry. What I mean is that several people might have written them; but I do not know any one else at present who could quite have written the dialect pieces. These are divinations and reports of what passes in the hearts and minds of a lowly people whose poetry had hitherto been inarticulately expressed in music, but now finds, for the first time in our tongue, literary interpretation of a very artistic completeness. I say the event is interesting, but how important it shall be can be determined only by Mr. Dunbar's future performance. I cannot undertake to prophesy concerning this; but if he should do nothing more than he has done, I should feel that he had made the strongest claim for the negro in English literature that the negro has yet made. He has at least produced something that, however we may critically disagree about it, we cannot well refuse to enjoy; in more than one piece he has produced a work of art. W. D. HOWELLS. INDEX OF TITLES ABSENCE 93 ACCOUNTABILITY 5 ADVICE 250 AFTER A VISIT 42 AFTER MANY DAYS 267 AFTER THE QUARREL 40 AFTER WHILE 53 ALEXANDER CRUMMELL--DEAD 113 ALICE 40 ANCHORED 256 ANGELINA 138 ANTE-BELLUM SERMON, AN 13 APPRECIATION 247 AT CANDLE-LIGHTIN' TIME 155 AT CHESHIRE CHEESE 129 AT LOAFING-HOLT 263 AT NIGHT 254 AT SUNSET TIME 263 AT THE TAVERN 226 AWAKENING, THE 252 BACK-LOG SONG, A 143 BALLAD 58 BALLADE 204 BANJO SONG, A 20 BARRIER, THE 99 BEHIND THE ARRAS 94 BEIN' BACK HOME 259 BEYOND THE YEARS 41 BLACK SAMSON OF BRANDYWINE 205 BLUE 253 BOHEMIAN, THE 92 BOOGAH MAN, THE 185 BOOKER T. WASHINGTON 209 BORDER BALLAD, A 48 BOYS' SUMMER SONG, A 235 BREAKING THE CHARM 149 BRIDAL MEASURE, A 97 BY RUGGED WAYS 215 BY THE STREAM 50 CABIN TALE, A 153 CAPTURE, THE 275 CAREER, A 285 CHANGE HAS COME, THE 58 CHANGE, THE 258 CHANGING TIME 72 CHASE, THE 258 CHOICE, A 125 CHRISTMUS IS A-COMIN' 153 CHRISTMAS ON THE PLANTATION 137 CHRISTMAS 269 CHRISTMAS CAROL 278 CHRISTMAS FOLKSONG, A 236 CHRISTMAS IN THE HEART 105 CIRCUMSTANCES ALTER CASES 261 COLORED BAND, THE 178 COLORED SOLDIERS, THE 50 COLUMBIAN ODE 47 COMMUNION 110 COMPARISON 59 COMPENSATION 256 CONFESSIONAL 116 CONFIDENCE, A 73 CONQUERORS, THE 112 CONSCIENCE AND REMORSE 31 COQUETTE CONQUERED, A 62 CORN-SONG, A 59 CORN-STALK FIDDLE, THE 16 CRISIS, THE 111 CURIOSITY 241 CURTAIN 42 DANCE, THE 170 DAT OL' MARE O' MINE 189 DAWN 65 DAY 248 DEACON JONES' GRIEVANCE 39 DEAD 73 DEATH 227 DEATH OF THE FIRST BORN, THE 258 DEATH SONG, A 142 DEBT, THE 213 DE CRITTERS' DANCE 181 DELINQUENT, THE 64 DELY 148 DESERTED PLANTATION, THE 67 DESPAIR 261 DE WAY T'INGS COME 225 DIFFERENCES 192 DILETTANTE, THE: A MODERN TYPE 49 DINAH KNEADING DOUGH 188 DIPLOMACY 238 DIRGE 66 DIRGE FOR A SOLDIER 199 DISAPPOINTED 60 DISCOVERED 60 DISCOVERY, THE 251 DISTINCTION 114 DISTURBER, THE 131 DOUGLASS 208 DOVE, THE 167 DREAM SONG I 104 DREAM SONG II 104 DREAMER, THE 100 DREAMIN' TOWN 254 DREAMS 100 DREAMS 166 DRIZZLE 180 DROWSY DAY, A 65 EASY-GOIN' FELLER, AN 49 ENCOURAGED 238 ENCOURAGEMENT 184 END OF THE CHAPTER, THE 101 EQUIPMENT 276 ERE SLEEP COMES DOWN TO SOOTHE THE WEARY EYES 3 EVENING 276 EXPECTATION 131 FAITH 244 FAREWELL TO ARCADY 123 FARM CHILD'S LULLABY, THE 245 FISHER CHILD'S LULLABY, THE 244 FISHING 172 FLORIDA NIGHT, A 191 FOOLIN' WID DE SEASONS 139 FOR THE MAN WHO FAILS 118 FOREST GREETING, THE 237 FOREVER 240 FOUNT OF TEARS, THE 224 FREDERICK DOUGLASS 6 FROLIC, A 200 FROM THE PORCH AT RUNNYMEDE 275 GARRET, THE 96 GOLDEN DAY, A 251 GOOD-NIGHT 61 GOURD, THE 107 GRIEVANCE, A 188 GROWIN' GRAY 80 HARRIET BEECHER STOWE 119 HAUNTED OAK, THE 219 HE HAD HIS DREAM 61 HER THOUGHT AND HIS 93 HOPE 247 HOW LUCY BACKSLID 158 HOW SHALL I WOO THEE 289 "HOWDY, HONEY, HOWDY!" 196 HUNTING SONG 150 HYMN 66 HYMN 133 HYMN, A 98 IF 75 IONE 31 IN AN ENGLISH GARDEN 111 IN AUGUST 130 IN MAY 166 IN SUMMER 91 IN SUMMER TIME 280 IN THE MORNING 190 IN THE TENDS OF AKBAR 223 INSPIRATION 179 INVITATION TO LOVE 61 ITCHING HEELS 222 JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY 287 JEALOUS 145 JILTED 136 JOGGIN' ERLONG 165 JOHNNY SPEAKS 235 JUST WHISTLE A BIT 98 KEEP A-PLUGGIN' AWAY 46 KEEP A SONG UP ON DE WAY 169 KIDNAPED 255 KING IS DEAD, THE 105 KNIGHT, THE 108 LAPSE, THE 122 LAWYERS' WAYS, THE 22 LAZY DAY, THE 249 LESSON, THE 8 LETTER, A 151 LIFE 8 LIFE'S TRAGEDY 225 LI'L' GAL 207 LILY OF THE VALLEY, THE 237 LIMITATIONS 250 LINCOLN 184 LITTLE BROWN BABY 134 LITTLE CHRISTMAS BASKET, A 174 LITTLE LUCY LANDMAN 107 LIZA MAY 267 LONESOME 79 LONG AGO 192 'LONG TO'DS NIGHT 187 LONGING 21 LOOKING-GLASS, THE 206 LOST DREAM, A 270 LOVE 103 LOVE AND GRIEF 102 LOVE DESPOILED 122 LOVE LETTER, A 266 LOVE-SONG 210 LOVE SONG, A 222 LOVER AND THE MOON, THE 29 LOVER'S LANE 132 LOVE'S APOTHEOSIS 89 LOVE'S CASTLE 201 LOVE'S DRAFT 252 LOVE'S HUMILITY 106 LOVE'S PHASES 117 LOVE'S PICTURES 282 LOVE'S SEASONS 215 LULLABY 144 LYRIC, A 288 MADRIGAL, A 287 MARE RUBRUM 110 MASTER-PLAYER THE 17 MASTERS, THE 258 MEADOW LARK, THE 71 MELANCHOLIA 54 MEMORY OF MARTHA, THE 194 MERRY AUTUMN 56 MISTY DAY, A 207 MISAPPREHENSION 117 MONK'S WALK, THE 209 MORNING 252 MORNING SONG OF LOVE 202 MORTALITY 103 MY CORN-COB PIPE 129 MY LADY OF CASTLE GRAND 180 MY LITTLE MARCH GIRL 120 MY SORT O' MAN 140 MY SWEET BROWN GAL 176 MYSTERY, THE 17 MYSTIC SEA, THE 91 MURDERED LOVER, THE 211 MUSICAL, A 253 NATURE AND ART 52 NEGRO LOVE SONG, A 49 NEWS, THE 136 NIGHT 263 NIGHT, DIM NIGHT 227 NIGHT OF LOVE 46 NODDIN' BY DE FIRE 201 NOON 226 NORA: A SERENADE 62 NOT THEY WHO SOAR 18 NUTTING SONG 282 OCTOBER 63 ODE FOR MEMORIAL DAY 22 ODE TO ETHIOPIA 15 OLD APPLE-TREE, THE 10 OLD CABIN, THE 260 OLD FRONT GATE, THE 199 OLD HOMESTEAD, THE 283 OLD MEMORY, AN 284 OL' TUNES, THE 53 ON A CLEAN BOOK 203 ON THE DEATH OF W. C. 284 ON THE DEDICATION OF DOROTHY HALL 214 ON THE RIVER 285 ON THE ROAD 142 ON THE SEA WALL 115 ONE LIFE 72 OPPORTUNITY 242 OVER THE HILLS 90 PARADOX, THE 89 PARTED 240 PARTED 145 PARTY, THE 83 PASSION AND LOVE 11 PATH, THE 21 PHANTOM KISS, THE 109 PHILOSOPHY 212 PHOTOGRAPH, THE 144 PHYLLIS 74 PLACE WHERE THE RAINBOW ENDS, THE 246 PLANTATION CHILD'S LULLABY, THE 241 PLANTATION PORTRAIT, A 173 PLANTATION MELODY, A 193 PLEA, A 167 POET AND HIS SONG, THE 4 POET AND THE BABY, THE 114 POET, THE 191 POOL, THE 198 POOR WITHERED ROSE 286 POSSESSION 198 POSSUM 141 POSSUM TROT 147 PRAYER, A 14 PRECEDENT 106 PREFERENCE A 213 PREMONITION 23 PREPARATION 67 PROMETHEUS 117 PROMISE 12 PROTEST 133 PUTTIN' THE BABY AWAY 243 QUILTING, THE 240 RAIN-SONGS 270 REAL QUESTION, THE 135 RELIGION 38 RELUCTANCE 203 REMEMBERED 121 RESIGNATION 106 RESPONSE 175 RETORT 5 RETROSPECTION 24 RIDING TO TOWN 70 RIGHT TO DIE, THE 94 RIGHT'S SECURITY 75 RISING OF THE STORM, THE 8 RIVALS, THE 27 RIVER OF RUIN, THE 265 ROADWAY, A 214 ROBERT GOULD SHAW 221 ROSES 221 ROSES AND PEARLS 270 SAILOR'S SONG, A 92 SAND-MAN, THE 235 SCAMP 239 SECRET, THE 68 SEEDLING, THE 12 SHE GAVE ME A ROSE 103 SHE TOLD HER BEADS 106 SHIPS THAT PASS IN THE NIGHT 64 SIGNS OF THE TIMES 77 SILENCE 186 SLOW THROUGH THE DARK 211 SNOWIN' 168 SOLILOQUY OF A TURKEY 171 SONG 13 SONG 178 SONG, A 248 SONG, A 271 SONG OF SUMMER 26 SONG, THE 76 SONNET 115 SPARROW, THE 78 SPEAKIN' AT DE' COU'THOUSE 205 SPEAKIN' O' CHRISTMAS 78 SPELLIN'-BEE, THE 42 SPIRITUAL, A 194 SPRING FEVER 176 SPRING SONG 26 SPRING WOOING, A 164 STARRY NIGHT, A 288 SUMMER NIGHT, A 262 STIRRUP CUP, THE 125 SUMMER PASTORAL, A 279 SUMMER'S NIGHT, A 64 SUM, THE 114 SUNSET 9 SUPPOSE 258 SYMPATHY 102 TEMPTATION 146 THANKSGIVING POEM, A 281 THEN AND NOW 129 THEOLOGY 106 THOU ART MY LUTE 109 TILL THE WIND GETS RIGHT 262 TIME TO TINKER 'ROUN'! 135 TO A CAPTIOUS CRITIC 189 TO A LADY PLAYING THE HARP 116 TO A DEAD FRIEND 216 TO A VIOLET FOUND ON ALL SAINTS' DAY 179 TO AN INGRATE 223 TO DAN 248 TO E. H. K. 97 TO HER 266 TO J. Q. 238 TO LOUISE 26 TO PFRIMMER 277 TO THE EASTERN SHORE 202 TO THE MEMORY OF MARY YOUNG 81 TO THE MIAMI 277 TO THE ROAD 163 TO THE SOUTH 216 TROUBLE IN DE KITCHEN 268 TRYST, THE 166 TURNING OF THE BABIES IN THE BED, THE 170 'TWELL DE NIGHT IS PAS' 253 TWILIGHT 241 TWO LITTLE BOOTS 163 TWO SONGS 19 UNEXPRESSED 25 UNLUCKY APPLE, THE 251 UNSUNG HEROES, THE 196 VAGRANTS 119 VALSE, THE 175 VENGEANCE IS SWEET 98 VETERAN, THE 256 VOICE OF THE BANJO, THE 124 VISITOR, THE 177 WADING' IN DE CREEK 239 WAITING 100 WARM DAY IN WINTER, A 168 WE WEAR THE MASK 71 WARRIOR'S PRAYER, THE 123 WELTSCHMERTZ 220 W'EN I GITS HOME 195 WHAT'S THE USE 249 WHEN A FELLER'S ITCHIN' TO BE SPANKED 264 WHEN ALL IS DONE 113 WHEN DE CO'N PONE'S HOT 57 WHEN DEY 'LISTED COLORED SOLDIERS 182 WHEN MALINDY SINGS 82 WHEN SAM'L SINGS 208 WHEN THE OLD MAN SMOKES 95 WHEN WINTER DARKENING ALL AROUND 275 WHIP-POOR-WILL AND KATY-DID 186 WHISTLING SAM 156 WHITTIER 18 WHY FADES A DREAM? 77 WIND AND THE SEA, THE 69 WINTER-SONG 236 WINTER'S APPROACH 256 WINTER'S DAY, A 120 WITH THE LARK 90 WOOING, THE 55 WORN OUT 286 WRAITH, THE 186 YESTERDAY AND TO-MORROW 257 INDEX OF FIRST LINES A bee that was searching for sweets one day 19 A blue-bell springs upon the ledge 26 A cloud fell down from the heavens 288 A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in 8 A hush is over all the teeming lists 6 A knock is at her door, but she is weak 73 A life was mine full of the close concern 103 A lilt and a swing 226 A little bird with plumage brown 78 A little dreaming by the way 114 A lover whom duty called over the wave 29 A maiden wept and, as a comforter 11 A man of low degree was sore oppressed 111 A song for the unsung heroes who rose in the country's need 196 A song is but a little thing 4 A youth went farming up and down 55 Across the hills and down the narrow ways 120 Adown the west a golden glow 263 Ah, Douglass, we have fall'n on evil days 208 Ah, I have changed, I do not know 270 Ah, love, my love is like a cry in the night 222 Ah me, it is cold and chill 186 Ah, Nora, my Nora, the light fades away 62 Ah, yes, 't is sweet still to remember 31 Ah, yes, the chapter ends to-day 101 Ain't it nice to have a mammy 239 Ain't nobody tol' you not a wo'd a-tall 181 Air a-gittin' cool an' coolah 77 All de night long twell de moon goes down 253 All hot and grimy from the road 224 Along by the river of ruin 265 An angel robed in spotless white 65 An old man planted and dug and tended 60 An old, worn harp that had been played 17 As a quiet little seedling 12 As in some dim baronial hall restrained 94 As lone I sat one summer's day 122 As some rapt gazer on the lowly earth 106 Ashes to ashes, dust unto dust 103 At the golden gate of song 179 Aye, lay him in his grave, the old dead year! 105 Back to the breast of thy mother 113 Because I had loved so deeply 256 Because you love me I have much achieved 238 Bedtime's come fu' little boys 144 Belated wanderer of the ways of spring 179 Beyond the years the answer lies 41 Bird of my lady's bower 19 Bones a-gittin' achy 153 Break me my bounds, and let me fly 285 Breezes blowin' middlin' brisk 78 Bring me the livery of no other man 92 By Mystic's banks I held my dream 204 By rugged ways and thro' the night 215 By the pool that I see in my dreams, dear love 198 By the stream I dream in calm delight, and watch as in a glass 50 Caught Susanner whistlin'; well 149 Come away to dreamin' town 254 Come, drink a stirrup cup with me 125 Come, essay a sprightly measure 97 Come on walkin' wid me, Lucy; 't ain't no time to mope erroun' 164 Come to the pane, draw the curtain apart 120 Come when the nights are bright with stars 61 Cool is the wind, for the summer is waning 163 Cover him over with daisies white 258 Daih's a moughty soothin' feelin' 187 Darling, my darling, my heart is on the wing 202 Days git wa'm an' wa'mah 239 De axes has been ringin' in de woods de blessid day 143 De breeze is blowin' 'cross de bay 145 De 'cession's stahted on de gospel way 194 De da'kest hour, dey allus say 165 De dog go howlin' 'long de road 247 De night creep down erlong de lan' 166 De ol' time's gone, de new time's hyeah 192 De sun hit shine an' de win' hit blow 256 De times is mighty stirrin' 'mong de people up ouah way 158 De trees is bendin' in de sto'm 193 De way t'ings come, hit seems to me 225 De win' is blowin' wahmah 236 De win' is hollahin' "Daih you" to de shuttahs an' de fiah 174 Dear critic, who my lightness so deplores 189 Dear heart, good-night! 23 Dear Miss Lucy: I been t'inkin' dat I'd write you long fo' dis 151 Deep in my heart that aches with the repression 25 Dey been speakin' at de cou't-house 205 Dey had a gread big pahty down to Tom's de othah night 83 Dey is snow upon the meddahs 168 Dey is times in life when Nature 57 Dey was oncet a awful quoil 'twixt de skillet an' de pot 268 Dey was talkin' in de cabin, dey was talkin' in de hall 182 Dey's a so't o' threatenin' feelin' in de blowin' of de breeze 171 Dinah stan' befo' de glass 206 Dis is gospel weathah sho'-- 26 Do' a-stan'in' on a jar, fiah a-shinin' thoo 196 Dolly sits a-quilting by her mother, stitch by stitch 240 Done are the toils and the wearisome marches 22 Dream days of fond delight and hours 287 Dream on, for dreams are sweet 100 Driftwood gathered here and there 277 Duck come switchin' 'cross de lot 275 Ef dey's anyt'ing dat riles me 141 Ef you's only got de powah fe' to blow a little whistle 250 Eight of 'em hyeah all tol' an' yet 243 Emblem of blasted hope and lost desire 115 Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes 3 Folks ain't got no right to censuah othah folks about dey habits 5 Folks is talkin' 'bout de money, 'bout de silvah an' de gold 135 Four hundred years ago a tangled waste 47 Fu' de peace o' my eachin' heels, set down 222 God has his plans, and what if we 81 "Good-bye," I said to my conscience 31 Goo'-by, Jinks, I got to hump 64 Good hunting!--aye, good hunting 237 Good-night, my love, for I have dreamed of thee 93 Granny's gone a-visitin' 242 Grass commence a-comin' 176 Gray are the pages of record 205 Gray is the palace where she dwells 180 G'way an' quit dat noise, Miss Lucy 82 Hain't you see my Mandy Lou 173 He had his dream, and all through life 61 He loved her, and through many years 129 He sang of life serenely sweet 191 He scribbles some in prose and verse 49 Heart of my heart, the day is chill 207 Heart of the Southland, heed me pleading now 216 Heel and toe, heel and toe 170 Hello, ole man, you're a-gittin' gray 80 Hit's been drizzlin' an' been sprinklin' 180 Home agin, an' home to stay 259 How shall I woo thee to win thee, mine own? 289 How sweet the music sounded 284 How's a man to write a sonnet, can you tell 114 Hurt was the nation with a mighty wound 184 Hyeah come Cæsar Higgins 145 Hyeah dat singin' in de medders 208 "I am but clay," the sinner plead 114 I am no priest of crooks nor creeds 38 I am the mother of sorrows 89 I be'n down in ole Kentucky 42 I been t'inkin' 'bout de preachah; whut he said de othah night 212 I did not know that life could be so sweet 252 I done got 'uligion, honey, an' I's happy ez a king 146 I don't believe in 'ristercrats 140 I grew a rose once more to please mine eyes 13 I grew a rose within a garden fair 12 I had not known before 240 I has hyeahd o' people dancin' an' I's hyeahd o' people singin' 156 I have no fancy for that ancient cant 94 I have seen full many a sight 188 I held my heart so far from harm 255 I found you and I lost you 251 I know a man 235 I know my love is true 58 I know what the caged bird feels, alas! 102 I never shall furgit that night when father hitched up Dobbin 42 I sit upon the old sea wall 115 I stand above the city's rush and din 275 I stood by the shore at the death of day 69 I think that though the clouds be dark 53 I was not; now I am--a few days hence 17 If Death should claim me for her own to-day 210 If life were but a dream, my Love 75 If the muse were mine to tempt it 50 If thro' the sea of night which here surrounds me 256 If 'twere fair to suppose 258 If you could sit with me beside the sea to-day 21 In a small and lonely cabin out of noisy traffic's way 124 In de dead of night I sometimes 260 In Life's Red Sea with faith I plant my feet 110 In the east the morning comes 199 In the heavy earth the miner 107 In the forenoon's restful quiet 95 In the silence of my heart 110 In this sombre garden close 209 In the tents of Akbar 223 In this old garden, fair, I walk to-day 111 I's a-gittin' weary of de way dat people do 244 I's boun' to see my gal to-night 142 I's feelin' kin' o' lonesome in my little room to-night 202 It is as if a silver chord 216 It may be misery not to sing at all 225 It was Chrismus Eve, I mind hit fu' a mighty gloomy day 137 It's all a farce,--these tales they tell 56 It's hot to-day. The bees is buzzin' 279 It's moughty tiahsome layin' 'roun' 195 I've a humble little motto 46 I've always been a faithful man 267 I've been list'nin' to them lawyers 22 I've been watchin' of 'em, parson 39 I've journeyed 'roun' consid'able, a-seein' men an' things 147 Jes' lak toddy wahms you thoo' 148 Just whistle a bit, if the day be dark 98 Key and bar, key and bar 201 Kiss me, Miami, thou most constant one! 277 Know you, winds that blow your course 40 Lay me down beneaf de willers in de grass 142 Lead gently, Lord, and slow 98 Let me close the eyes of my soul 261 Let those who will stride on their barren roads 214 'Lias! 'Lias! Bless de Lawd! 190 Like sea-washed sand upon the shore 202 Like the blush upon the rose 282 Little brown baby wif spa'klin' eyes 134 Little brown face full of smiles 267 Little lady at de do' 177 Long had I grieved at what I deemed abuse 106 Long since, in sore distress, I heard one pray 123 Long time ago, we too set out 119 Long years ago, within a distant clime 104 Love hath the wings of the butterfly 117 Love is the light of the world, my dear 231 Love me. I care not what the circling years 89 Love used to carry a bow, you know 258 Lucy done gone back on me 136 Mammy's in de kitchen, an' de do' is shet 241 Mastah drink his ol' Made'a 213 Men may sing of their Havanas, elevating to the stars 129 Mother's gone a-visitin' to spend a month er two 79 My cot was down by a cypress grove 8 My heart to thy heart 13 My lady love lives far away 288 My muvver's ist the nicest one 247 My neighbor lives on the hill 192 My soul, lost in the music's mist 76 Night, dim night, and it rains, my love, it rains 227 Night is for sorrow and dawn is for joy 90 Not o'er thy dust let there be spent 18 No matter what you call it 287 Not they who soar, but they who plod 18 Not to the midnight of the gloomy past 214 O li'l' lamb out in de col' 133 O Lord, the hard-won miles 11 O Mother Race! to thee I bring 15 October is the treasurer of the year 63 Oh, de clouds is mighty heavy 169 Oh, de grubbin'-hoe's a-rustin' in de co'nah 67 Oh, de weathah it is balmy an' de breeze is sighin' low 207 Oh, dere's lots o' keer an' trouble 20 Oh for the breath of the briny deep 92 Oh, I am hurt to death, my Love 72 Oh, I des received a letter f'om de sweetest little gal 266 Oh, I haven't got long to live, for we all 48 Oh, summer has clothed the earth 91 Oh the breeze is blowin' balmy 262 Oh, the day has set me dreaming 107 Oh, the little bird is rocking in the cradle of the wind 245 Oh, the poets may sing of their Lady Irenes 26 Oh to have you in May 166 Oh, what shall I do? I am wholly upset 131 Oh, who is the Lord of the land of life 268 Oh, who would be sad tho' the sky be a-graying 236 Oh, wind of the spring-time, oh, free wind of May 221 On a summer's day as I sat by a stream 248 On the wide veranda white 59 Once Love grew bold and arrogant of air 102 One night in my room, still and beamless 109 Our good knight, Ted, girds his broadsword on 108 Out in de night a sad bird moans 194 Out in the sky the great dark clouds are massing 64 Out of my heart, one day, I wrote a song 117 Out of my heart, one treach'rous winter's day 102 Out of the sunshine and out of the heat 167 Outside the rain upon the street 253 Over the hills and the valleys of dreaming 90 Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day 74 Place this bunch of mignonette 66 Poor withered rose, she gave it me 286 Pray, what can dreams avail 104 Pray why are you so bare, so bare 219 Prometheus stole from Heaven the sacred fire 117 Ring out, ye bells! 278 Round the wide earth, from the red field your valour has won 112 Say a mass for my soul's repose, my brother 211 Search thou my heart 116 See dis pictyah in my han' 144 Seems lak folks is mighty curus 139 Seen my lady home las' night 49 Seen you down at chu'ch las' night 60 Shadder in de valley 226 She gave a rose 103 She sang, and I listened the whole song thro' 121 She told the story, and the whole world wept 119 She told her beads with downcast eyes 106 She wrapped her soul in a lace of lies 240 Silence, and whirling worlds afar 263 Silently without my window 54 Since I left the city's heat 263 Slow de night's a-fallin' 186 Slow moves the pageant of a climbing race 211 So we, who 'we supped the selfsame cup 40 Some folks t'inks hit's right an' p'opah 201 Standin' at de winder 253 Step me now a bridal measure 248 Step wid de banjo an' glide wid de fiddle 269 Storm and strife and stress 227 Summah night an' sighin' breeze 132 Summah's nice, wif sun a-shinin' 132 Summer is de lovin' time 262 Sunshine on de medders 168 Sweetest of the flowers a-blooming 237 Swing yo' lady roun' an' roun' 200 Tek a cool night, good an' cleah 150 Tell your love where the roses blow 238 Temples he built, and palaces of air 100 The air is dark, the sky is gray 65 The change has come, and Helen sleeps 58 The cloud looked in at the window 72 The draft of love was cool and sweet 252 The gray dawn on the mountain top 248 The gray of the sea, and the gray of the sky 93 The lake's dark breast 8 The lark is silent in his nest 61 The little bird sits in the nest and sings 67 The Midnight wooed the Morning-Star 99 The mist has left the greening plain 252 The moon begins her stately ride 276 The moon has left the sky, love 46 The night is dewy as a maiden's mouth 64 The November sun invites me 282 The poor man went to the rich man's doors 106 The rain streams down like harpstrings from the sky 270 The river sleeps beneath the sky 9 The sand-man he's a jolly old fellow 235 The sky of brightest gray seems dark 59 The smell of the sea in my nostrils 91 The snow lies deep upon the ground 105 The sun has slipped his tether 100 The sun hath shed its kindly light 281 The sun is low 285 The trees bend down along the stream 249 The wind is out in its rage to-night 244 The wind told the little leaves to hurry 258 The word is writ that he who runs may read 209 The world is a snob, and the man who wins 118 The young queen Nature, ever sweet and fair 52 Ther' ain't no use in all this strife 49 There are no beaten paths to Glory's height 21 There is a heaven, for ever, day by day 106 There's a fabulous story 246 There's a memory keeps a-runnin' 10 These are the days of elfs and fays 251 They please me not--these solemn songs 125 This is the debt I pay 213 This is to-day, a golden summer's day 223 This poem must be done to-day 122 Thou arrant robber, Death! 284 "Thou art a fool," said my head to my heart 5 Thou art my lute, by thee I sing 109 Thou art the soul of a summer's day 271 Though the winds be dank 71 Thy tones are silver melted into sound 116 Tim Murphy's gon' walkin' wid Maggie O'Neill 261 'Tis an old deserted homestead 283 'Tis better to set here beside the sea 186 'Tis fine to play 235 To me, like hauntings of a vagrant breath 97 Treat me nice, Miss Mandy Jane 167 'Twas the apple that in Eden 251 'Twas three an' thirty year ago 27 'Twixt a smile and a tear 241 Two little boots all rough an' wo' 163 Uncle John, he makes me tired 73 Underneath the autumn sky 256 Villain shows his indiscretion 42 Want to trade me, do you, mistah? Oh, well, now, I reckon not 189 We is gathahed hyeah, my brothahs 13 We wear the mask that grins and lies 71 W'en daih's chillun in de house 199 W'en de clouds is hangin' heavy in de sky 176 W'en de colo'ed ban' comes ma'chin' down de street 178 W'en de evenin' shadders 185 W'en de snow's a-fallin' 188 W'en I git up in de mo'nin' an' de clouds is big an' black 172 W'en us fellers stomp around, makin' lots o' noise 264 W'en you full o' worry 250 What are the things that make life bright? 238 What dreams we have and how they fly 166 What if the wind do howl without 75 What says the wind to the waving trees? 68 What's the use o' folks a-frownin' 249 When all is done, and my last word is said 113 When August days are hot an' dry 130 When de fiddle gits to singin' out a ol' Vahginny reel 138 When first of wise old Johnson taught 129 When I come in f'm de co'n-fiel' aftah wo'kin' ha'd all day 155 When I was young I longed for Love 98 When labor is light and the morning is fair 70 When Phyllis sighs and from her eyes 175 When storms arise 66 When summer time has come, and all 280 When the bees are humming in the honeysuckle vine 215 When the corn's all cut and the bright stalks shine 16 When to sweet music my lady is dancing 175 When winter covering all the ground 275 When you and I were young, the days 24 Who dat knockin' at de do'? 184 Who say my hea't ain't true to you? 133 Whose little lady is you, chile 198 Whut dat you whisperin' keepin' f'om me? 136 Whut time 'd dat clock strike? 254 Whut you say, dah? huh, uh! chile 153 Why fades a dream? 77 Why was it that the thunder voice of Fate 221 Will I have some mo' dat pie? 203 Win' a-blowin' gentle so de san' lay low 191 Wintah, summah, snow er shine 178 Wintah time hit comin' 241 With sombre mien, the evening gray 123 With what thou gavest me, O Master 276 Within a London garret high 96 Woman's sho' a cur'ous critter, an' dey ain't no doubtin' dat 170 Yes, my ha't 's ez ha'd ez stone 62 Yesterday I held your hand 257 You ask why I am sad to-day 220 You bid me hold my peace 286 You kin talk about yer anthems 53 You'll be wonderin' whut's de reason 131 Your presence like a benison to me 266 Your spoken words are roses fine and sweet 270 LYRICS OF LOWLY LIFE ERE SLEEP COMES DOWN TO SOOTHE THE WEARY EYES Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes, Which all the day with ceaseless care have sought The magic gold which from the seeker flies; Ere dreams put on the gown and cap of thought, And make the waking world a world of lies,-- Of lies most palpable, uncouth, forlorn, That say life's full of aches and tears and sighs,-- Oh, how with more than dreams the soul is torn, Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes. Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes, How all the griefs and heart-aches we have known Come up like pois'nous vapors that arise From some base witch's caldron, when the crone, To work some potent spell, her magic plies. The past which held its share of bitter pain, Whose ghost we prayed that Time might exorcise, Comes up, is lived and suffered o'er again, Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes. Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes, What phantoms fill the dimly lighted room; What ghostly shades in awe-creating guise Are bodied forth within the teeming gloom. What echoes faint of sad and soul-sick cries, And pangs of vague inexplicable pain That pay the spirit's ceaseless enterprise, Come thronging through the chambers of the brain, Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes. Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes, Where ranges forth the spirit far and free? Through what strange realms and unfamiliar skies Tends her far course to lands of mystery? To lands unspeakable--beyond surmise, Where shapes unknowable to being spring, Till, faint of wing, the Fancy fails and dies Much wearied with the spirit's journeying, Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes. Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes, How questioneth the soul that other soul,-- The inner sense which neither cheats nor lies, But self exposes unto self, a scroll Full writ with all life's acts unwise or wise, In characters indelible and known; So, trembling with the shock of sad surprise, The soul doth view its awful self alone, Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes. When sleep comes down to seal the weary eyes, The last dear sleep whose soft embrace is balm, And whom sad sorrow teaches us to prize For kissing all our passions into calm, Ah, then, no more we heed the sad world's cries, Or seek to probe th' eternal mystery, Or fret our souls at long-withheld replies, At glooms through which our visions cannot see, When sleep comes down to seal the weary eyes. THE POET AND HIS SONG A song is but a little thing, And yet what joy it is to sing! In hours of toil it gives me zest, And when at eve I long for rest; When cows come home along the bars, And in the fold I hear the bell, As Night, the shepherd, herds his stars, I sing my song, and all is well. There are no ears to hear my lays, No lips to lift a word of praise; But still, with faith unfaltering, I live and laugh and love and sing. What matters yon unheeding throng? They cannot feel my spirit's spell, Since life is sweet and love is long, I sing my song, and all is well. My days are never days of ease; I till my ground and prune my trees. When ripened gold is all the plain, I put my sickle to the grain. I labor hard, and toil and sweat, While others dream within the dell; But even while my brow is wet, I sing my song, and all is well. Sometimes the sun, unkindly hot, My garden makes a desert spot; Sometimes a blight upon the tree Takes all my fruit away from me; And then with throes of bitter pain Rebellious passions rise and swell; But--life is more than fruit or grain, And so I sing, and all is well. RETORT "Thou art a fool," said my head to my heart, "Indeed, the greatest of fools thou art, To be led astray by the trick of a tress, By a smiling face or a ribbon smart;" And my heart was in sore distress. Then Phyllis came by, and her face was fair, The light gleamed soft on her raven hair; And her lips were blooming a rosy red. Then my heart spoke out with a right bold air: "Thou art worse than a fool, O head!" ACCOUNTABILITY Folks ain't got no right to censuah othah folks about dey habits; Him dat giv' de squir'ls de bushtails made de bobtails fu' de rabbits. Him dat built de gread big mountains hollered out de little valleys, Him dat made de streets an' driveways wasn't shamed to make de alleys. We is all constructed diff'ent, d'ain't no two of us de same; We cain't he'p ouah likes an' dislikes, ef we'se bad we ain't to blame. Ef we 'se good, we need n't show off, case you bet it ain't ouah doin' We gits into su'ttain channels dat we jes' cain't he'p pu'suin'. But we all fits into places dat no othah ones could fill, An' we does the things we has to, big er little, good er ill. John cain't tek de place o' Henry, Su an' Sally ain't alike; Bass ain't nuthin' like a suckah, chub ain't nuthin' like a pike. When you come to think about it, how it 's all planned out it 's splendid. Nuthin 's done er evah happens, 'dout hit 's somefin' dat 's intended; Don't keer whut you does, you has to, an' hit sholy beats de dickens,-- Viney, go put on de kittle, I got one o' mastah's chickens. FREDERICK DOUGLASS A hush is over all the teeming lists, And there is pause, a breath-space in the strife; A spirit brave has passed beyond the mists And vapors that obscure the sun of life. And Ethiopia, with bosom torn, Laments the passing of her noblest born. She weeps for him a mother's burning tears-- She loved him with a mother's deepest love. He was her champion thro' direful years, And held her weal all other ends above. When Bondage held her bleeding in the dust, He raised her up and whispered, "Hope and Trust." For her his voice, a fearless clarion, rung That broke in warning on the ears of men; For her the strong bow of his power he strung, And sent his arrows to the very den Where grim Oppression held his bloody place And gloated o'er the mis'ries of a race. And he was no soft-tongued apologist; He spoke straightforward, fearlessly uncowed; The sunlight of his truth dispelled the mist, And set in bold relief each dark hued cloud; To sin and crime he gave their proper hue, And hurled at evil what was evil's due. Through good and ill report he cleaved his way. Right onward, with his face set toward the heights, Nor feared to face the foeman's dread array,-- The lash of scorn, the sting of petty spites. He dared the lightning in the lightning's track, And answered thunder with his thunder back. When men maligned him, and their torrent wrath In furious imprecations o'er him broke, He kept his counsel as he kept his path; 'T was for his race, not for himself he spoke. He knew the import of his Master's call, And felt himself too mighty to be small. No miser in the good he held was he,-- His kindness followed his horizon's rim. His heart, his talents, and his hands were free To all who truly needed aught of him. Where poverty and ignorance were rife, He gave his bounty as he gave his life. The place and cause that first aroused his might Still proved its power until his latest day. In Freedom's lists and for the aid of Right Still in the foremost rank he waged the fray; Wrong lived; his occupation was not gone. He died in action with his armor on! We weep for him, but we have touched his hand, And felt the magic of his presence nigh, The current that he sent throughout the land, The kindling spirit of his battle-cry. O'er all that holds us we shall triumph yet, And place our banner where his hopes were set! Oh, Douglass, thou hast passed beyond the shore, But still thy voice is ringing o'er the gale! Thou 'st taught thy race how high her hopes may soar, And bade her seek the heights, nor faint, nor fail. She will not fail, she heeds thy stirring cry, She knows thy guardian spirit will be nigh, And, rising from beneath the chast'ning rod, She stretches out her bleeding hands to God! LIFE A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in, A minute to smile and an hour to weep in, A pint of joy to a peck of trouble, And never a laugh but the moans come double; And that is life! A crust and a corner that love makes precious, With a smile to warm and the tears to refresh us; And joy seems sweeter when cares come after, And a moan is the finest of foils for laughter; And that is life! THE LESSON My cot was down by a cypress grove, And I sat by my window the whole night long, And heard well up from the deep dark wood A mocking-bird's passionate song. And I thought of myself so sad and lone, And my life's cold winter that knew no spring; Of my mind so weary and sick and wild, Of my heart too sad to sing. But e'en as I listened the mock-bird's song, A thought stole into my saddened heart, And I said, "I can cheer some other soul By a carol's simple art." For oft from the darkness of hearts and lives Come songs that brim with joy and light, As out of the gloom of the cypress grove The mocking-bird sings at night. So I sang a lay for a brother's ear In a strain to soothe his bleeding heart, And he smiled at the sound
{'title': 'The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by Paul Laurence Dunbar', 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}