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Phyllis

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

Topics: classic

Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day,     Few are my years, but my griefs are not few,     Ever to youth should each day be a May-day,     Warm wind and rose-breath and diamonded dew--     Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day.     Oh for the sunlight that shines on a May-day!     Only the cloud hangeth over my life.     Love that should bring me youth's happiest heyday     Brings me but seasons of sorrow and strife;     Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day.     Sunshine or shadow, or gold day or gray day,     Life must be lived as our destinies rule;     Leisure or labor or work day or play day--     Feasts for the famous and fun for the fool;     Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day.

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Author:Paul Laurence Dunbar

"Phyllis, ah, Phyllis, my life is a gray day,..." 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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