Poems

Poems is a collection of poetry by Paul Laurence Dunbar. His collected poems were published in book form as The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar in 1913.

The collection explores love, sorrow, faith, nature, work, and everyday life, while also reflecting the experiences of African Americans in the decades following the Civil War. Many poems reveal the tensions between personal aspirations and the racial prejudice and social restrictions of the period.

Dunbar wrote both in standard English and in the African American dialect verse for which he became especially famous. His poems range from humorous and musical pieces to serious reflections on freedom, injustice, identity, and hidden suffering.

Through accessible language, rhythm, and vivid imagery, Poems demonstrates Dunbar's remarkable versatility and his ability to combine lyrical beauty with social observation, offering a rich portrait of American life at the turn of the twentieth century.

"Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes,
Which all the day with ceaseless care have sought
The magic gold which from the seeker flies;
Ere dreams put on the gown and cap of thought,
And make the waking world a world of lies,—
Of lies most palpable, uncouth, forlorn,
That say life's full of aches and tears and sighs,—
Oh, how with more than dreams the soul is torn,
Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes."