Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet and writer. Dunbar gained national recognition for his book of poems, Lyrics of a Lowly Life (1896).

Paul Laurence Dunbar. Source: Wood, Norman B. White Side of a Black Subject. Chicago: American Publishing, 1897.

Quotes

• 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.
  • "Dawn" (1895)

• It is a little dark still, but there are warnings of the day and somewhere out of the darkness a bird is singing to the Dawn.
  • Representative American Negroes, an essay from The Negro Problem, a collection of essays written in 1903 by leading African Americans.

• 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 could not disappoint you and so prevailed.
  • Encouraged, in The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar (1913).

• You are sweet, O Love, dear Love,
  You are soft as the nesting dove.
  Come to my heart and bring it rest
  As the bird flies home to its welcome nest.
  
  • Invitation to Love, in the 1913 collection of his work, The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar.

1975 US Postage Stamp.

• I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
       When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
  When the wind blows soft through the springing grass,
  And the river floats like a stream of glass;
       When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
  And the faint perfume from its chalice steals—
  I know what the caged bird feels!
  
  I know why the caged bird beats his wing
       Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
  For he must fly back to his perch and cling
  When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
       And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
  And they pulse again with a keener sting—
  I know why he beats his wing!
  
  I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
       When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—
  When he beats his bars and he would be free;
  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!
  • Sympathy, in the 1913 collection of his work, The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar; the poem inspired the title of Maya Angelou's book, Why the Caged Bird Sings.

• We wear the mask that grins and lies,
  It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
  This debt we pay to human guile;
  With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
  And mouth with myriad subtleties.
  
  Why should the world be over-wise,
  In counting all our tears and sighs?
  Nay, let them only see us, while
       We wear the mask.
  
  We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
  To thee from tortured souls arise.
  We sing, but oh the clay is vile
  Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
  But let the world dream otherwise,
       We wear the mask!
  • We Wear The Mask, in the 1913 collection of his work, The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Quotes about Paul Laurence Dunbar

• I started writing when I was mute. I always thought I could write because I loved to read so much. I loved the melody of Poe and I loved Paul Laurence Dunbar. I had memorized so much of Dunbar, Poe, Shakespeare, James Weldon Johnson, Longfellow. When my son was able to be quiet enough to listen, I taught him those poets. A few years ago he gave a reading of his poetry and he started the reading by saying 'First, let me recite to you some of the poets my mother raised me on . . .'
  • From a 1988 interview in Conversations with Maya Angelou (1989)

• I was always interested in fair play, probably from reading the works of Paul Dunbar, Langston Hughes, and Charles Dickens as a child. I was always concerned about justice and injustice. To the extent that I could understand the issues, I was always on the side of the underdog. I'm on the same side today.
  • From a 1977 interview in Conversations with Maya Angelou (1989)

• the title I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is from [Paul Lawrence] Dunbar's "Sympathy."
  • From a 1983 interview in Conversations with Maya Angelou (1989)

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Paul Laurence Dunbar on Wikipedia
• Media related to Paul Laurence Dunbar on Wikimedia Commons
• Works related to Author:Paul Laurence Dunbar on Wikisource
• Works by Paul Laurence Dunbar at Project Gutenberg
• Dunbar's Legacy of Language, an NPR story marking the 100th anniversary of Dunbar's death; included is a poetry reading.