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Dinah Kneading Dough

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

Topics: classic

I have seen full many a sight     Born of day or drawn by night:     Sunlight on a silver stream,     Golden lilies all a-dream,     Lofty mountains, bold and proud,     Veiled beneath the lacelike cloud;     But no lovely sight I know     Equals Dinah kneading dough.     Brown arms buried elbow-deep     Their domestic rhythm keep,     As with steady sweep they go     Through the gently yielding dough.     Maids may vaunt their finer charms--     Naught to me like Dinah's arms;     Girls may draw, or paint, or sew--     I love Dinah kneading dough.     Eyes of jet and teeth of pearl,     Hair, some say, too tight a-curl;     But the dainty maid I deem     Very near perfection's dream.     Swift she works, and only flings     Me a glance--the least of things.     And I wonder, does she know     That my heart is in the dough?

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"I have seen full many a sight..."

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Author:Paul Laurence Dunbar

"I have seen full many a sight..." by Paul Laurence Dunbar

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Paul Laurence Dunbar

About Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906) was an American poet and novelist who was one of the first African-American writers to gain national prominence. His poems in dialect—including "When Malindy Sings"—and standard English explore Black life with humor, pathos, and dignity.

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