Paul Laurence Dunbar, an American poet, novelist, and short story writer in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, was born on June 27, 1872 in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American Civil War.
According to Wikipedia, "Dunbar began writing stories and verse when he was a child. He published his first poems at the age of 16 in a Dayton newspaper, and served as president of his high school's literary society.
"Dunbar's popularity increased rapidly after his work was praised by William Dean Howells, a leading editor associated with Harper's Weekly. Dunbar became one of the first African-American writers to establish an international reputation. In addition to his poems, short stories, and novels, he also wrote the lyrics for the musical comedy In Dahomey (1903), the first all-African-American musical produced on Broadway in New York. The musical later toured in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Dunbar suffered from tuberculosis, which in the early-1900s had no cure. He died in Dayton, Ohio, on February 9, 1906, at the age of 33. Wikipedia states that "Much of Dunbar's more popular work in his lifetime was written in the 'Negro dialect' associated with the antebellum South, though he also used the Midwestern regional dialect of James Whitcomb Riley. Dunbar also wrote in conventional English in other poetry and novels."
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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!
Olivia thought:
- It sounded like it started out like he was taking out a debt to pay for something like going on the bus or trolly.
- The second section talks about death and paying it back when you are dead...or it can't bother you once you are dead.
- The debt was not important.
- He thought it was small, but it wasn't.
- You have the interest on the debt.
- [After reading a short essay about how the debt this poem may not relate to money, Olivia said:] I like how the author of the essay said that debt may not be focused on a monetary debt, but as a like an action or word that has been said.
- It makes more sense that way. Certain parts of it...other parts sound money or finance-focused.
- The stuff in the grave - it can't follow you. It's done. Once you are done, that's it.
- I liked this poem.
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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 has 'menced to grow,
W'en dey notice as dey pass
Dat de front gate's saggin' low.
W'en de hinges creak an' cry,
An' de bahs go slantin' down,
You kin reckon dat hit's time
Fu' to cas' yo' eye erroun',
'Cause daih ain't no 'sputin' dis,
Hit's de trues' sign to show
Dat daih's cou'tin goin' on
W'en de ol' front gate sags low.
Oh, you grumble an' complain,
An' you prop dat gate up right;
But you notice right nex' day
Dat hit's in de same ol' plight.
So you fin' dat hit's a rule,
An' daih ain' no use to blow,
W'en de gals is growin' up,
Dat de front gate will sag low.
Den you t'ink o' yo' young days,
W'en you cou'ted Sally Jane,
An' you so't o' feel ashamed
Fu' to grumble an' complain,
'Cause yo' ricerlection says,
An' you know hits wo'ds is so,
Dat huh pappy had a time
Wid his front gate saggin' low.
So you jes' looks on an' smiles
At 'em leanin' on de gate,
Tryin' to t'ink whut he kin say
Fu' to keep him daih so late,
But you lets dat gate erlone,
Fu' yo' 'sperunce goes to show,
'Twell de gals is ma'ied off,
It gwine keep on saggin' low.
Olivia thought:
- The old front gate is clearly sagging and needs repairs.
- I heard the word "pappy" which refers to the dad.
- There are sisters are of the age to get married and should be married by now.
- This poem was confusing and long. The slang and we're guessing what these words mean make this poem definitely on the difficult side.
- Some of the words you can figure out.
- I think he definitely captures how some African Americans would have talked.
- I think it would have been a nice poem if I could understand it a little better.
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We Wear the Mask
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 overwise,
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,
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!
Olivia thought:
- So it is about wearing a mask when you are out in public. At the beginning it sounds like it is an actual, physical mask. Towards the end, it sounds more like a figurative one. People don't know that you are wearing.
- One would wear the mask to hide - to hide pain and misery.
- They want to keep the mask on because there's no reason for others to know what's going on in your life.
- I liked it. I think the death one is better. I think people can associate themselves with one of the characters who is behind the mask.
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Dawn
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.
Olivia thought:
- Talking about the sunrise and how it pink.
- People thought the angel was the sun or the bringer of the dawn; and then he would disappear and not leave a trace.
- It's the transition from night to day.
- I like this one. It is cute.
- This is a new perspective on looking at this transition from night to day.
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Invitation to Love
Come when the nights are bright with stars
Or come when the moon is mellow;
Come when the sun his golden bars
Drops on the hay-field yellow.
Come in the twilight soft and gray,
Come in the night or come in the day,
Come, O love, whene’er you may,
And you are welcome, welcome.
You are sweet, O Love, dear Love,
You are soft as the nesting dove.
Come to my heart and bring it to rest
As the bird flies home to its welcome nest.
Come when my heart is full of grief
Or when my heart is merry;
Come with the falling of the leaf
Or with the redd’ning cherry.
Come when the year’s first blossom blows,
Come when the summer gleams and glows,
Come with the winter’s drifting snows,
And you are welcome, welcome.
Olivia thought:
- This person is inviting love into their life because - I guess - they haven't felt it. They want to let love knows that it is welcome in their life.
- I like the beginning part with the sky - come when the nights are bright with that - that first section.
- Talks about the seasons, grief, how love is soft, and bringing it home.
- The part with the sky and the seasons, I could picture that in my mind.
- I liked Dawn better than this one.
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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 a solemn booming gun
And catch the gleaming of a random light,
That tells me that the ship I seek is passing, passing.
My tearful eyes my soul's deep hurt are glassing;
For I would hail and check that ship of ships.
I stretch my hands imploring, cry aloud,
My voice falls dead a foot from mine own lips,
And but its ghost doth reach that vessel, passing, passing.
O Earth, O Sky, O Ocean, both surpassing,
O heart of mine, O soul that dreads the dark!
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?
Olivia thought:
- First thought was the song "Ships in the Night."
- This gives me a melancholy feeling. Everything seems alright, but there's an air of urgency and concern with the solemn booming gun. It sounds like there may be other ships fighting.
- "Out in the sky the great dark clouds are massing" - I can imagine the dark clouds coming together.
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