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The Poet

By Paul Laurence Dunbar

Topics: classic

He sang of life, serenely sweet,     With, now and then, a deeper note.     From some high peak, nigh yet remote,     He voiced the world's absorbing beat.     He sang of love when earth was young,     And Love, itself, was in his lays.     But ah, the world, it turned to praise     A jingle in a broken tongue.

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Author:Paul Laurence Dunbar

"He sang of life, serenely sweet,..." 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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