Paul Laurence Dunbar
The Debt
This is the debt I pay Just for one riotous day, Years of regret and grief, Sorrow without relief. Pay it I will to the end Until the grave, my friend, Gives me a
The Old Front Gate
W’en daih’s chillun in de house, Dey keep on a-gittin’ tall; But de folks don’ seem to see Dat dey’s growin’ up at all, ‘Twell dey fin’ out some fine day Dat de gals
Little Brown Baby
Little brown baby wif spa’klin’ eyes, Come to yo’ pappy an’ set on his knee. What you been doin’, suh makin’ san’ pies? Look at dat bib you’s es du’ty ez me. Look at
Ships that Pass in the Night
Out in the sky the great dark clouds are massing; I look far out into the pregnant night, Where I can hear the solemn booming gun And catch the gleaming of a random light,
The Barrier
The Midnight wooed the Morning Star, And prayed her: “Love come nearer; Your swinging coldly there afar To me but makes you dearer.” The Morning Star was pale with dole As said she, low
At the Tavern
A lilt and a swing, And a ditty to sing, Or ever the night grow old; The wine is within, And I’m sure t’were a sin For a soldier to choose to be cold,
A Negro Love Song
Seen my lady home las’ night, Jump back, honey, jump back. Hel’ huh han’ an’ sque’z it tight, Jump back, honey, jump back. Hyeahd huh sigh a little sigh, Seen a light gleam f’om
To Dan
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. Diagnosis, cease your squalling Check that scalpel’s senseless bawling,
When Malindy Sings
G’way an’ quit dat noise, Miss Lucy Put dat music book away; What’s de use to keep on tryin’? Ef you practise twell you’re gray, You cain’t sta’t no notes a-flyin’ Lak de ones
A Choice
They please me not these solemn songs That hint of sermons covered up. ‘T is true the world should heed its wrongs, But in a poem let me sup, Not simples brewed to cure
The Made to Order Smile
When a woman looks up at you with a twist about her eyes, And her brows are half uplifted in a nicely feigned surprise As you breathe some pretty sentence, though she hates you
My Little March Girl
Come to the pane, draw the curtain apart, There she is passing, the girl of my heart; See where she walks like a queen in the street, Weather-defying, calm, placid and sweet. Tripping along
The Haunted Oak
Pray why are you so bare, so bare, Oh, bough of the old oak-tree; And why, when I go through the shade you throw, Runs a shudder over me? My leaves were green as
The Lawyers' Ways
I’ve been list’nin’ to them lawyers In the court house up the street, An’ I’ve come to the conclusion That I’m most completely beat. Fust one feller riz to argy, An’ he boldly waded
Frederick Douglass
A hush is over all the teeming lists, And there is pause, a breath-space in the strife; A spirit brave has passed beyond the mists And vapors that obscure the sun of life. And