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Paul Laurence Dunbar

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 true release —
Gives me the clasp of peace.
Slight was the thing I bought,
Small was the debt I thought,
Poor was the loan at best —
God! but the interest!

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After Many Days

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The End of the Chapter

Ah, yes, the chapter ends to—day; We even lay the book away; But oh, how sweet the moments sped Before the final page was read! We tried to read between the lines
Over the Hills

Over the hills and the valleys of… Slowly I take my way. Life is the night with its dream—v… Death is the waking at day. Down thro’ the dales and the bower…
The Change

LOVE used to carry a bow, you kn… But now he carries a taper; It is either a length of wax aglow… Or a twist of lighted paper. I pondered a little about the scam…
Dreamin' Town

COME away to dreamin’ town, Mandy Lou, Mandy Lou, Whaih de skies don’ nevah frown, Mandy Lou; Whaih de streets is paved with gol…
A Thanksgiving Poem

The sun hath shed its kindly light… Our harvesting is gladly o’er Our fields have felt no killing bl… Our bins are filled with goodly st… From pestilence, fire, flood, and…
Ships that Pass in the Night

Out in the sky the great dark clou… I look far out into the pregnant n… Where I can hear the solemn boomi… And catch the gleaming of a random… That tells me that the ship I see…
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Her Thoughts and His

The gray of the sea, and the gray… A glimpse of the moon like a half—… The gleam on the waves and the lig… A thrill in my heart,—and—my sweet… She turned from the sea with a wom…
In the Tents of Akbar

In the tents of Akbar Are dole and grief to—day, For the flower of all the Indies Has gone the silent way. In the tents of Akbar
To a Violet Found on All Saint's Day

Belated wanderer of the ways of sp… Lost in the chill of grim Novembe… Would I could read the message th… And find in it the antidote for pa… Does some sad spirit out beyond th…
He had his Dream

He had his dream, and all through… Worked up to it through toil and s… Afloat fore’er before his eyes, It colored for him all his skies: The storm—cloud dark
Lover's Lane

Summah night an’ sighin’ breeze, 'Long de lovah’s lane; Frien’ly, shadder—mekin’ trees, 'Long de lovah’s lane. White folks’ wo’k all done up gran…
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Conscience and Remorse

‘GOOD-BYE,’ I said to my consc… ‘Good-bye for aye and aye,’ And I put her hands off harshly, And turned my face away; And conscience smitten sorely
Hope

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 mattah ef de way is long,
Till the Wind Gets Right

OH the breeze is blowin’ balmy And the sun is in a haze; There’s a cloud jest givin’ coolne… To the laziest of days. There are crowds upon the lakeside…



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