Paul Laurence Dunbar

"Summah is de lovin' time--     Do' keer what you say.     Night is allus peart an' prime,     Bettah dan de day.     Do de day is sweet an' go"

"Treat me nice, Miss Mandy Jane,     Treat me nice.     Dough my love has tu'ned my brain,     Treat me nice.     I ain't done a t'ing to shame"

"Whut time 'd dat clock strike?     Nine? No--eight;     I didn't think hit was so late.     Aer chew! I must 'a' got a cough,     I raally b'l"

"De times is mighty stirrin' 'mong de people up ouah way,     Dey 'sputin' an' dey argyin' an' fussin' night an' day;     An' all dis monst'ous t"

"When to sweet music my lady is dancing     My heart to mild frenzy her beauty inspires.     Into my face are her brown eyes a-glancing,     And"

"The Midnight wooed the Morning-Star,     And prayed her: "Love come nearer;     Your swinging coldly there afar     To me but makes you dearer!"

"Long time ago, we two set out,     My soul and I.     I know not why,     For all our way was dim with doubt.     I know not where     We two"

"Silently without my window,     Tapping gently at the pane,     Falls the rain.     Through the trees sighs the breeze     Like a soul in pain"

"We is gathahed hyeah, my brothahs,     In dis howlin' wildaness,     Fu' to speak some words of comfo't     To each othah in distress.     An'"

"See dis pictyah in my han'?     Dat's my gal;     Ain't she purty? goodness lan'!     Huh name Sal.     Dat's de very way she be--     Kin' o"

"I never shall furgit that night when father hitched up Dobbin,     An' all us youngsters clambered in an' down the road went bobbin'     To scho"

"Love hath the wings of the butterfly,     Oh, clasp him but gently,     Pausing and dipping and fluttering by     Inconsequently.     Stir not"

"Darling, my darling, my heart is on the wing,     It flies to thee this morning like a bird,     Like happy birds in springtime my spirits soar"

"If thro' the sea of night which here surrounds me,     I could swim out beyond the farthest star,     Break every barrier of circumstance that b"

"To me, like hauntings of a vagrant breath     From some far forest which I once have known,     The perfume of this flower of verse is blown."

"'Lias! 'Lias! Bless de Lawd!     Don' you know de day's erbroad?     Ef you don' git up, you scamp,     Dey 'll be trouble in dis camp.     T'"

"Ther' ain't no use in all this strife,     An' hurryin', pell-mell, right thro' life.     I don't believe in goin' too fast     To see what kin"

"Step me now a bridal measure,     Work give way to love and leisure,     Hearts be free and hearts be gay--     Doctor Dan doth wed to-day."

"All hot and grimy from the road,     Dust gray from arduous years,     I sat me down and eased my load     Beside the Fount of Tears.     The"

"De dog go howlin' 'long de road,     De night come shiverin' down;     My back is tiahed of its load,     I cain't be fu' f'om town.     No ma"

"The lake's dark breast     Is all unrest,     It heaves with a sob and a sigh.     Like a tremulous bird,     From its slumber stirred,     T"

"Heart of my heart, the day is chill,     The mist hangs low o'er the wooded hill,     The soft white mist and the heavy cloud     The sun and t"

"When summer time has come, and all     The world is in the magic thrall     Of perfumed airs that lull each sense     To fits of drowsy indolen"

"A Song     Poor withered rose, she gave it me,     Half in revenge and half in glee;     Its petals not so pink by half     As are her lips w"

"Night, dim night, and it rains, my love, it rains,     (Art thou dreaming of me, I wonder)     The trees are sad, and the wind complains,     O"

"One night in my room, still and beamless,     With will and with thought in eclipse,     I rested in sleep that was dreamless;     When softly"

"Oh, what shall I do? I am wholly upset;     I am sure I 'll be jailed for a lunatic yet.     I 'll be out of a job--it's the thing to expect"

"De night creep down erlong de lan',     De shadders rise an' shake,     De frog is sta'tin' up his ban',     De cricket is awake;     My wo'k"

"What says the wind to the waving trees?     What says the wave to the river?     What means the sigh in the passing breeze?     Why do the rush"

"What are the things that make life bright?     A star gleam in the night.     What hearts us for the coming fray?     The dawn tints of the day"

"She sang, and I listened the whole song thro'.     (It was sweet, so sweet, the singing.)     The stars were out and the moon it grew     From"

"Heel and toe, heel and toe,     That is the song we sing;     Turn to your partner and curtsey low,     Balance and forward and swing.     Cor"

"Emblem of blasted hope and lost desire,     No finger ever traced thy yellow page     Save Time's. Thou hast not wrought to noble rage     The"

"I has hyeahd o' people dancin' an' I 's hyeahd o' people singin'.     An' I 's been 'roun' lots of othahs dat could keep de banjo ringin';     B"

"Eight of 'em hyeah all tol' an' yet     Dese eyes o' mine is wringin' wet;     My haht's a-achin' ha'd an' so',     De way hit nevah ached befo"

"Because you love me I have much achieved,     Had you despised me then I must have failed,     But since I knew you trusted and believed,     I"

"A youth went faring up and down,     Alack and well-a-day.     He fared him to the market town,     Alack and well-a-day.     And there he met"

"The cloud looked in at the window,     And said to the day, "Be dark!"     And the roguish rain tapped hard on the pane,     To stifle the song"

"Wintah time hit comin'     Stealin' thoo de night;     Wake up in the mo'nin'     Evah t'ing is white;     Cabin lookin' lonesome     Stannin"

"De 'cession's stahted on de gospel way,     De Capting is a-drawin' nigh:     Bettah stop a-foolin' an' a-try to pray;     Lif' up yo' haid w'e"

"Summah night an' sighin' breeze,     'Long de lovah's lane;     Frien'ly, shadder-mekin' trees,     'Long de lovah's lane.     White folks' wo"

"If you could sit with me beside the sea to-day,     And whisper with me sweetest dreamings o'er and o'er;     I think I should not find the clou"

"'T is better to sit here beside the sea,     Here on the spray-kissed beach,     In silence, that between such friends as we     Is full of dee"

"In this old garden, fair, I walk to-day     Heart-charmed with all the beauty of the scene:     The rich, luxuriant grasses' cooling green,"

"(Lines on reading "Driftwood.")     Driftwood gathered here and there     Along the beach of time;     Now and then a chip of truth     'Mid"

"Win' a-blowin' gentle so de san' lay low,     San' a little heavy f'om de rain,     All de pa'ms a-wavin' an' a-weavin' slow,     Sighin' lak a"

"Caught Susanner whistlin'; well,     It's most nigh too good to tell.     'Twould 'a' b'en too good to see     Ef it had n't b'en fur me,"

"By the stream I dream in calm delight, and watch as in a glass,     How the clouds like crowds of snowy-hued and white-robed maidens pass,     A"

"Oh, who would be sad tho' the sky be a-graying,     And meadow and woodlands are empty and bare;     For softly and merrily now there come playi"

"Dey had a gread big pahty down to Tom's de othah night;     Was I dah? You bet! I nevah in my life see sich a sight;     All de folks f'om fou'"

"As some rapt gazer on the lowly earth,     Looks up to radiant planets, ranging far,     So I, whose soul doth know thy wondrous worth     Look"

"The poor man went to the rich man's doors,     "I come as Lazarus came," he said.     The rich man turned with humble head,--     "I will send"

"Little brown face full of smiles,     And a baby's guileless wiles,     Liza May, Liza May.     Eyes a-peeping thro' the fence     With an in"

"Duck come switchin' 'cross de lot     Hi, oh, Miss Lady!     Hurry up an' hide de pot     Hi, oh, Miss Lady!     Duck's a mighty 'spicious fow"

"Mother 's gone a-visitin' to spend a month er two,     An', oh, the house is lonesome ez a nest whose birds has flew     To other trees to build"

"De win' is hollahin' "Daih you" to de shuttahs an' de fiah,     De snow's a-sayin' "Got you" to de groun',     Fu' de wintah weathah 's come wid"

"Swing yo' lady roun' an' roun',     Do de bes' you know;     Mek yo' bow an' p'omenade     Up an' down de flo';     Mek dat banjo hump huhse'f"

"Oh, the day has set me dreaming     In a strange, half solemn way     Of the feelings I experienced     On another long past day,--     Of the"

"Prometheus stole from Heaven the sacred fire     And swept to earth with it o'er land and sea.     He lit the vestal flames of poesy,     Conte"

"Ah, Douglass, we have fall'n on evil days,     Such days as thou, not even thou didst know,     When thee, the eyes of that harsh long ago"