(1872-1906 / Ohio / United States)

poet Paul Laurence Dunbar
#32 on top 500 poets

Quotations

  • ''Lay me down beneaf de willers in de grass,
    Whah de branch'll go a-singin' as it pass.''
    Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), U.S. poet. A Death Song (l. 1-2). . . Poetry of the Negro, The, 1746-1970. Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps, eds. (Rev. ed., 1970) Doubleday & Company.
    83 person liked.
    		36 person did not like.
  • ''Fu' I t'ink de las' long res'
    Gwine to soothe my sperrit bes'
    If I's layin' 'mong de t'ings I's allus knowed.''
    Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), U.S. poet. A Death Song (l. 13-15). . . Poetry of the Negro, The, 1746-1970. Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps, eds. (Rev. ed., 1970) Doubleday & Company.
    57 person liked.
    		33 person did not like.
  • ''An angel, robed in spotless white,
    Bent down and kissed the sleeping Night.
    Night woke to blush; the sprite was gone.
    Men saw the blush and called it Dawn.''
    Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), U.S. poet. Dawn (l. 1-4). . . American Negro Poetry. Arna Bontemps, ed. (Rev. ed., 1974) Hill and Wang.
    77 person liked.
    		25 person did not like.
  • ''And catch the gleaming of a random light,
    That tells me that the ship I seek is passing, passing.''
    Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), U.S. poet. Ships That Pass in the Night (l. 4-5). . . Anthology of American Poetry. George Gesner, ed. (1983) Avenel Books.
    47 person liked.
    		21 person did not like.
  • ''Is there no hope for me? Is there no way
    That I may sight and check that speeding bark
    Which out of sight and sound is passing, passing?''
    Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), U.S. poet. Ships That Pass in the Night (l. 13-15). . . Anthology of American Poetry. George Gesner, ed. (1983) Avenel Books.
    12 person liked.
    		3 person did not like.
  • ''Out in the sky the great dark clouds are massing;
    I look far out into the pregnant night,''
    Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), U.S. poet. Ships That Pass in the Night (l. 1-2). . . Anthology of American Poetry. George Gesner, ed. (1983) Avenel Books.
    12 person liked.
    		4 person did not like.
  • ''It is not a carol of joy or glee,
    But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,
    But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings—
    I know why the caged bird sings!''
    Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), U.S. poet. Sympathy (l. 18-21). . . Poetry of the Negro, The, 1746-1970. Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps, eds. (Rev. ed., 1970) Doubleday & Company.
    17 person liked.
    		5 person did not like.
  • ''I know what the caged bird feels, alas!''
    Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), U.S. poet. Sympathy (l. l). . . Poetry of the Negro, The, 1746-1970. Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps, eds. (Rev. ed., 1970) Doubleday & Company.
    16 person liked.
    		5 person did not like.
  • ''This is the debt I pay
    Just for one riotous day,''
    Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), U.S. poet. The Debt (l. 1-2). . . American Negro Poetry. Arna Bontemps, ed. (Rev. ed., 1974) Hill and Wang.
    12 person liked.
    		4 person did not like.
  • ''Slight was the thing I bought,
    Small was the debt I thought,
    Poor was the loan at best—
    God! but the interest!''
    Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), U.S. poet. The Debt (l. 9-12). . . American Negro Poetry. Arna Bontemps, ed. (Rev. ed., 1974) Hill and Wang.
    14 person liked.
    		4 person did not like.

Read more quotations »

Encouragement

WHO dat knockin' at de do'?
Why, Ike Johnson, -- yes, fu' sho!
Come in, Ike. I's mighty glad
You come down. I t'ought you's
mad
At me 'bout de othah night,
An' was stayin' 'way fu' spite.
Say, now, was you mad fu' true
W'en I kin' o' laughed at you?

Read more »
[Hata Bildir]