The Complete Poems Of Paul Laurence Dunbar

Presents the 1913 edition of African-American writer Paul Dunbar's collected poems and adds sixty poems to it, also providing variants, selected primary and secondary bibliographies, and an index of first lines.

Paul Laurence Dunbar's 'The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar' offers an expansive tableau of the African American experience at the turn of the 20th century through poetry that weaves a rich tapestry of emotion, heritage, and history. This collection showcases Dunbar's mastery of both standard English verse and dialect poetry, the latter drawing from the vernacular of the Southern Black community. His work exemplifies a fusion of lyrical and narrative styles, set against the broad literary context of the American Realism and early Modernist periods, a time when issues of race and identity were carving deep fissures in the cultural landscape of the nation. As the son of freed slaves, Dunbar's literary genius springs from the well of his own cultural and personal struggles. His poignant exploration of themes such as liberty, oppression, love, and the complexities of African American life has cemented his reputation as a significant literary figure. Dunbar's poetry delves into the emotional and cultural dialogues of his era, preserving the voices of his community through eloquent artistic expressions that remain impactful to this day. His works are not merely artifacts of a historical epoch but are living testaments to the endurance and depth of the human spirit. For enthusiasts of American poetry and those invested in the literary chronicles of the African American experience, 'The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar' is an essential volume. It offers readers a window into the soul of a man and his society, revealing the universal truths that resonate beyond the boundaries of time and race. This anthology is deserving of a place on the shelves of scholars and lay readers alike who appreciate the power of words to incite change, to celebrate heritage, and to heal fissures wrought by history's hand.

Dunbar is the first American Negro of pure African bloodto reveal innate distinction in literature; as W.D. Howells has said, to feel the Negro life esthetically and express it lyrically.

Reproduction of the original: The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by William Dean Howells

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Excerpt from The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar: With the Introduction to Lyrics of Lowly Life I think' I should scarcely trouble the reader with a Special appeal in behalf Of this book, if it had not specially appealed to me for reasons apart from the author's race, origin, and condition. The world is too Old now, and I find myself too much Of its mood, to care for the work of a poet because he is black, because his father and mother were slaves, because he was, before and after he began to write poems, an elevator-boy. These facts would certainly attract me to him as a man, if I knew him to have a literary ambition, but when it came to his literary art, I must judge it irrespective Of these facts, and enjoy or endure it for what it was in itself. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Dialect poems by one of the nineteenth century's most talented African American lyricists Paul Laurence Dunbar was “the most promising young colored man” in nineteenth-century America, according to Frederick Douglass, and subsequently one of the most controversial. His plantation lyrics, written while he was an elevator boy in Ohio, established Dunbar as the premier writer of dialect poetry and garnered him international recognition. More than a vernacular lyricist, Dunbar was also a master of classical poetic forms, who helped demonstrate to post–Civil War America that literary genius did not reside solely in artists of European descent. William Dean Howells called Dunbar’s dialect poems “evidence of the essential unity of the human race, which does not think or feel black in one and white in another, but humanly in all.” For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.