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The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar
The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar
The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar
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The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar

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The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar is a comprehensive selection of the iconic writer’s beloved poetry that features his unique rhythm and famous dialect. His work is a beautiful and critical examination of the human spirit.

Paul Laurence Dunbar produced an impressive volume of work during his short lifetime. Prior to his passing, at age 33, he published multiple collections of poetry including Majors and Minors in 1895 and Lyrics of Lowly Life in 1896. Dunbar uses his poetry to address multiple themes such as love, loss, family, marriage and work. His signature prose and melodic turn of phrase permeates the heart and mind, leaving an indelible mark.

The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar is required reading for poetry scholars. It helps exemplify Dunbar’s influence in America and abroad. He was a prolific artist who set a precedent for many twentieth century poets, including Dr. Maya Angelou.

With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherMint Editions
Release dateJan 26, 2021
ISBN9781513276113
The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar
Author

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) was an African American poet, novelist, and playwright. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Dunbar was the son of parents who were emancipated from slavery in Kentucky during the American Civil War. He began writing stories and poems as a young boy, eventually publishing some in a local newspaper at the age of sixteen. In 1890, Dunbar worked as a writer and editor for The Tattler, Dayton’s first weekly newspaper for African Americans, which was a joint project undertaken with the help of Dunbar’s friends Wilbur and Orville Wright. The following year, after completing school, he struggled to make ends meet with a job as an elevator operator and envisioned for himself a career as a professional writer. In 1893, he published Oak and Ivy, a debut collection of poetry blending traditional verse and poems written in dialect. In 1896, a positive review of his collection Majors and Minors from noted critic William Dean Howells established Dunbar’s reputation as a rising star in American literature. Over the next decade, Dunbar wrote ten more books of poetry, four collections of short stories, four novels, a musical, and a play. In his brief career, Dunbar became a respected advocate for civil rights, participating in meetings and helping to found the American Negro Academy. His lyrics for In Dahomey (1903) formed the centerpiece to the first musical written and performed by African Americans on Broadway, and many of his essays and poems appeared in the nation’s leading publications, including Harper’s Weekly and the Saturday Evening Post. Diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1900, however, Dunbar’s health steadily declined in his final years, leading to his death at the age of thirty-three while at the height of his career.

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    The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar - Paul Laurence Dunbar

    LYRICS OF LOWLY LIFE

    ERE SLEEP COMES DOWN TO SOOTHE THE WEARY EYES

    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.

    Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes,

    How all the griefs and heart-aches we have known

    Come up like pois’nous vapors that arise

    From some base witch’s caldron, when the crone,

    To work some potent spell, her magic plies.

    The past which held its share of bitter pain,

    Whose ghost we prayed that Time might exorcise,

    Comes up, is lived and suffered o’er again,

    Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes.

    Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes,

    What phantoms fill the dimly lighted room;

    What ghostly shades in awe-creating guise

    Are bodied forth within the teeming gloom.

    What echoes faint of sad and soul-sick cries,

    And pangs of vague inexplicable pain

    That pay the spirit’s ceaseless enterprise,

    Come thronging through the chambers of the brain,

    Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes.

    Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes,

    Where ranges forth the spirit far and free?

    Through what strange realms and unfamiliar skies

    Tends her far course to lands of mystery?

    To lands unspeakable—beyond surmise,

    Where shapes unknowable to being spring,

    Till, faint of wing, the Fancy fails and dies

    Much wearied with the spirit’s journeying,

    Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes.

    Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes,

    How questioneth the soul that other soul,—

    The inner sense which neither cheats nor lies,

    But self exposes unto self, a scroll

    Full writ with all life’s acts unwise or wise,

    In characters indelible and known;

    So, trembling with the shock of sad surprise,

    The soul doth view its awful self alone,

    Ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes.

    When sleep comes down to seal the weary eyes,

    The last dear sleep whose soft embrace is balm,

    And whom sad sorrow teaches us to prize

    For kissing all our passions into calm,

    Ah, then, no more we heed the sad world’s cries,

    Or seek to probe th’ eternal mystery,

    Or fret our souls at long-withheld replies,

    At glooms through which our visions cannot see,

    When sleep comes down to seal the weary eyes.

    THE POET AND HIS SONG

    A song is but a little thing,

    And yet what joy it is to sing!

    In hours of toil it gives me zest,

    And when at eve I long for rest;

    When cows come home along the bars,

    And in the fold I hear the bell,

    As Night, the shepherd, herds his stars,

    I sing my song, and all is well.

    There are no ears to hear my lays,

    No lips to lift a word of praise;

    But still, with faith unfaltering,

    I live and laugh and love and sing.

    What matters yon unheeding throng?

    They cannot feel my spirit’s spell,

    Since life is sweet and love is long,

    I sing my song, and all is well.

    My days are never days of ease;

    I till my ground and prune my trees.

    When ripened gold is all the plain,

    I put my sickle to the grain.

    I labor hard, and toil and sweat,

    While others dream within the dell;

    But even while my brow is wet,

    I sing my song, and all is well.

    Sometimes the sun, unkindly hot,

    My garden makes a desert spot;

    Sometimes a blight upon the tree

    Takes all my fruit away from me;

    And then with throes of bitter pain

    Rebellious passions rise and swell;

    But—life is more than fruit or grain,

    And so I sing, and all is well.

    RETORT

    Thou art a fool, said my head to my heart,

    "Indeed, the greatest of fools thou art,

    To be led astray by the trick of a tress,

    By a smiling face or a ribbon smart;"

    And my heart was in sore distress.

    Then Phyllis came by, and her face was fair,

    The light gleamed soft on her raven hair;

    And her lips were blooming a rosy red.

    Then my heart spoke out with a right bold air:

    Thou art worse than a fool, O head!

    ACCOUNTABILITY

    Folks ain’t got no right to censuah othah folks about dey habits;

    Him dat giv’ de squir’ls de bushtails made de bobtails fu’ de rabbits.

    Him dat built de gread big mountains hollered out de little valleys,

    Him dat made de streets an’ driveways wasn’t shamed to make de alleys.

    We is all constructed diff’ent, d’ain’t no two of us de same;

    We cain’t he’p ouah likes an’ dislikes, ef we’se bad we ain’t to blame.

    Ef we ’se good, we need n’t show off, case you bet it ain’t ouah doin’

    We gits into su’ttain channels dat we jes’ cain’t he’p pu’suin’.

    But we all fits into places dat no othah ones could fill,

    An’ we does the things we has to, big er little, good er ill.

    John cain’t tek de place o’ Henry, Su an’ Sally ain’t alike;

    Bass ain’t nuthin’ like a suckah, chub ain’t nuthin’ like a pike.

    When you come to think about it, how it ’s all planned out it ’s splendid.

    Nuthin ’s done er evah happens, ’dout hit ’s somefin’ dat ’s intended;

    Don’t keer whut you does, you has to, an’ hit sholy beats de dickens,—

    Viney, go put on de kittle, I got one o’ mastah’s chickens.

    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 Ethiopia, with bosom torn,

    Laments the passing of her noblest born.

    She weeps for him a mother’s burning tears—

    She loved him with a mother’s deepest love.

    He was her champion thro’ direful years,

    And held her weal all other ends above.

    When Bondage held her bleeding in the dust,

    He raised her up and whispered, Hope and Trust.

    For her his voice, a fearless clarion, rung

    That broke in warning on the ears of men;

    For her the strong bow of his power he strung,

    And sent his arrows to the very den

    Where grim Oppression held his bloody place

    And gloated o’er the mis’ries of a race.

    And he was no soft-tongued apologist;

    He spoke straightforward, fearlessly uncowed;

    The sunlight of his truth dispelled the mist,

    And set in bold relief each dark hued cloud;

    To sin and crime he gave their proper hue,

    And hurled at evil what was evil’s due.

    Through good and ill report he cleaved his way.

    Right onward, with his face set toward the heights,

    Nor feared to face the foeman’s dread array,—

    The lash of scorn, the sting of petty spites.

    He dared the lightning in the lightning’s track,

    And answered thunder with his thunder back.

    When men maligned him, and their torrent wrath

    In furious imprecations o’er him broke,

    He kept his counsel as he kept his path;

    ’T was for his race, not for himself he spoke.

    He knew the import of his Master’s call,

    And felt himself too mighty to be small.

    No miser in the good he held was he,—

    His kindness followed his horizon’s rim.

    His heart, his talents, and his hands were free

    To all who truly needed aught of him.

    Where poverty and ignorance were rife,

    He gave his bounty as he gave his life.

    The place and cause that first aroused his might

    Still proved its power until his latest day.

    In Freedom’s lists and for the aid of Right

    Still in the foremost rank he waged the fray;

    Wrong lived; his occupation was not gone.

    He died in action with his armor on!

    We weep for him, but we have touched his hand,

    And felt the magic of his presence nigh,

    The current that he sent throughout the land,

    The kindling spirit of his battle-cry.

    O’er all that holds us we shall triumph yet,

    And place our banner where his hopes were set!

    Oh, Douglass, thou hast passed beyond the shore,

    But still thy voice is ringing o’er the gale!

    Thou ’st taught thy race how high her hopes may soar,

    And bade her seek the heights, nor faint, nor fail.

    She will not fail, she heeds thy stirring cry,

    She knows thy guardian spirit will be nigh,

    And, rising from beneath the chast’ning rod,

    She stretches out her bleeding hands to God!

    LIFE

    A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in,

    A minute to smile and an hour to weep in,

    A pint of joy to a peck of trouble,

    And never a laugh but the moans come double;

    And that is life!

    A crust and a corner that love makes precious,

    With a smile to warm and the tears to refresh us;

    And joy seems sweeter when cares come after,

    And a moan is the finest of foils for laughter;

    And that is life!

    THE LESSON

    My cot was down by a cypress grove,

    And I sat by my window the whole night long,

    And heard well up from the deep dark wood

    A mocking-bird’s passionate song.

    And I thought of myself so sad and lone,

    And my life’s cold winter that knew no spring;

    Of my mind so weary and sick and wild,

    Of my heart too sad to sing.

    But e’en as I listened the mock-bird’s song,

    A thought stole into my saddened heart,

    And I said, "I can cheer some other soul

    By a carol’s simple art."

    For oft from the darkness of hearts and lives

    Come songs that brim with joy and light,

    As out of the gloom of the cypress grove

    The mocking-bird sings at night.

    So I sang a lay for a brother’s ear

    In a strain to soothe his bleeding heart,

    And he smiled at the sound of my voice and lyre,

    Though mine was a feeble art.

    But at his smile I smiled in turn,

    And into my soul there came a ray:

    In trying to soothe another’s woes

    Mine own had passed away.

    THE RISING OF THE STORM

    The lake’s dark breast

    Is all unrest,

    It heaves with a sob and a sigh.

    Like a tremulous bird,

    From its slumber stirred,

    The moon is a-tilt in the sky.

    From the silent deep

    The waters sweep,

    But faint on the cold white stones,

    And the wavelets fly

    With a plaintive cry

    O’er the old earth’s bare, bleak bones.

    And the spray upsprings

    On its ghost-white wings,

    And tosses a kiss at the stars;

    While a water-sprite,

    In sea-pearls dight,

    Hums a sea-hymn’s solemn bars.

    Far out in the night,

    On the wavering sight

    I see a dark hull loom;

    And its light on high,

    Like a Cyclops’ eye,

    Shines out through the mist and gloom.

    Now the winds well up

    From the earth’s deep cup,

    And fall on the sea and shore,

    And against the pier

    The waters rear

    And break with a sullen roar.

    Up comes the gale,

    And the mist-wrought veil

    Gives way to the lightning’s glare,

    And the cloud-drifts fall,

    A sombre pall,

    O’er water, earth, and air.

    The storm-king flies,

    His whip he plies,

    And bellows down the wind.

    The lightning rash

    With blinding flash

    Comes pricking on behind.

    Rise, waters, rise,

    And taunt the skies

    With your swift-flitting form.

    Sweep, wild winds, sweep,

    And tear the deep

    To atoms in the storm.

    And the waters leapt,

    And the wild winds swept,

    And blew out the moon in the sky,

    And I laughed with glee,

    It was joy to me

    As the storm went raging by!

    SUNSET

    The river sleeps beneath the sky,

    And clasps the shadows to its breast;

    The crescent moon shines dim on high;

    And in the lately radiant west

    The gold is fading into gray.

    Now stills the lark his festive lay,

    And mourns with me the dying day.

    While in the south the first faint star

    Lifts to the night its silver face,

    And twinkles to the moon afar

    Across the heaven’s graying space,

    Low murmurs reach me from the town,

    As Day puts on her sombre crown,

    And shakes her mantle darkly down.

    THE OLD APPLE-TREE

    There’s a memory keeps a-runnin’

    Through my weary head to-night,

    An’ I see a picture dancin’

    In the fire-flames’ ruddy light;

    ’Tis the picture of an orchard

    Wrapped in autumn’s purple haze,

    With the tender light about it

    That I loved in other days.

    An’ a-standin’ in a corner

    Once again I seem to see

    The verdant leaves an’ branches

    Of an old apple-tree.

    You perhaps would call it ugly,

    An’ I don’t know but it’s so,

    When you look the tree all over

    Unadorned by memory’s glow;

    For its boughs are gnarled an’ crooked,

    An’ its leaves are gettin’ thin,

    An’ the apples of its bearin’

    Would n’t fill so large a bin

    As they used to. But I tell you,

    When it comes to pleasin’ me,

    It’s the dearest in the orchard,—

    Is that old apple-tree.

    I would hide within its shelter,

    Settlin’ in some cosy nook,

    Where no calls nor threats could stir me

    From the pages o’ my book.

    Oh, that quiet, sweet seclusion

    In its fulness passeth words!

    It was deeper than the deepest

    That my sanctum now affords.

    Why, the jaybirds an’ the robins,

    They was hand in glove with me,

    As they winked at me an’ warbled

    In that old apple-tree.

    It was on its sturdy branches

    That in summers long ago

    I would tie my swing an’ dangle

    In contentment to an’ fro,

    Idly dreamin’ childish fancies,

    Buildin’ castles in the air,

    Makin’ o’ myself a hero

    Of romances rich an’ rare.

    I kin shet my eyes an’ see it

    Jest as plain as plain kin be,

    That same old swing a-danglin’

    To the old apple-tree.

    There’s a rustic seat beneath it

    That I never kin forget.

    It’s the place where me an’ Hallie—

    Little sweetheart—used to set,

    When we ’d wander to the orchard

    So ’s no listenin’ ones could hear

    As I whispered sugared nonsense

    Into her little willin’ ear.

    Now my gray old wife is Hallie,

    An’ I ’m grayer still than she,

    But I ’ll not forget our courtin’

    ’Neath the old apple-tree.

    Life for us ain’t all been summer,

    But I guess we ’we had our share

    Of its flittin’ joys an’ pleasures,

    An’ a sprinklin’ of its care.

    Oft the skies have smiled upon us;

    Then again we ’ve seen ’em frown,

    Though our load was ne’er so heavy

    That we longed to lay it down.

    But when death does come a-callin’,

    This my last request shall be,—

    That they ’ll bury me an’ Hallie

    ’Neath the old apple tree.

    A PRAYER

    O Lord, the hard-won miles

    Have worn my stumbling feet:

    Oh, soothe me with thy smiles,

    And make my life complete.

    The thorns were thick and keen

    Where’er I trembling trod;

    The way was long between

    My wounded feet and God.

    Where healing waters flow

    Do thou my footsteps lead.

    My heart is aching so;

    Thy gracious balm I need.

    PASSION AND LOVE

    A maiden wept and, as a comforter,

    Came one who cried, I love thee, and he seized

    Her in his arms and kissed her with hot breath,

    That dried the tears upon her flaming cheeks.

    While evermore his boldly blazing eye

    Burned into hers; but she uncomforted

    Shrank from his arms and only wept the more.

    Then one came and gazed mutely in her face

    With wide and wistful eyes; but still aloof

    He held himself; as with a reverent fear,

    As one who knows some sacred presence nigh.

    And as she wept he mingled tear with tear,

    That cheered her soul like dew a dusty flower,—

    Until she smiled, approached, and touched his hand!

    THE SEEDLING

    As a quiet little seedling

    Lay within its darksome bed,

    To itself it fell a-talking,

    And this is what it said:

    "I am not so very robust,

    But I ’ll do the best I can;"

    And the seedling from that moment

    Its work of life began.

    So it pushed a little leaflet

    Up into the light of day,

    To examine the surroundings

    And show the rest the way.

    The leaflet liked the prospect,

    So it called its brother, Stem;

    Then two other leaflets heard it,

    And quickly followed them.

    To be sure, the haste and hurry

    Made the seedling sweat and pant;

    But almost before it knew it

    It found itself a plant.

    The sunshine poured upon it,

    And the clouds they gave a shower;

    And the little plant kept growing

    Till it found itself a flower.

    Little folks, be like the seedling,

    Always do the best you can;

    Every child must share life’s labor

    Just as well as every man.

    And the sun and showers will help you

    Through the lonesome, struggling hours,

    Till you raise to light and beauty

    Virtue’s fair, unfading flowers.

    PROMISE

    I grew a rose within a garden fair,

    And, tending it with more than loving care,

    I thought how, with the glory of its bloom,

    I should the darkness of my life illume;

    And, watching, ever smiled to see the lusty bud

    Drink freely in the summer sun to tinct its blood.

    My rose began to open, and its hue

    Was sweet to me as to it sun and dew;

    I watched it taking on its ruddy flame

    Until the day of perfect blooming came,

    Then hasted I with smiles to find it blushing red—

    Too late! Some thoughtless child had plucked my rose and fled!

    FULFILMENT

    I grew a rose once more to please mine eyes.

    All things to aid it—dew, sun, wind, fair skies—

    Were kindly; and to shield it from despoil,

    I fenced it safely in with grateful toil.

    No other hand than mine shall pluck this flower, said I,

    And I was jealous of the bee that hovered nigh.

    It grew for days; I stood hour after hour

    To watch the slow unfolding of the flower,

    And then I did not leave its side at all,

    Lest some mischance my flower should befall.

    At last, oh joy! the central petals burst apart.

    It blossomed—but, alas! a worm was at its heart!

    SONG

    My heart to thy heart,

    My hand to thine;

    My lip to thy lips,

    Kisses are wine

    Brewed for the lover in sunshine and shade;

    Let me drink deep, then, my African maid.

    Lily to lily,

    Rose unto rose;

    My love to thy love

    Tenderly grows.

    Rend not the oak and the ivy in twain,

    Nor the swart maid from her swarthier swain.

    AN ANTE-BELLUM SERMON

    We is gathahed hyeah, my brothahs,

    In dis howlin’ wildaness,

    Fu’ to speak some words of comfo’t

    To each othah in distress.

    An’ we chooses fu’ ouah subjic’

    Dis—we’ll ’splain it by an’ by;

    "An’ de Lawd said, ‘Moses, Moses,’

    An’ de man said, ‘Hyeah am I.’ "

    Now ole Pher’oh, down in Egypt,

    Was de wuss man evah bo’n,

    An’ he had de Hebrew chillun

    Down dah wukin’ in his co’n;

    ’T well de Lawd got tiahed o’ his foolin’,

    An’ sez he: "I’ ll let him know—

    Look hyeah, Moses, go tell Pher’oh

    Fu’ to let dem chillun go."

    "An’ ef he refuse to do it,

    I will make him rue de houah,

    Fu’ I’ll empty down on Egypt

    All de vials of my powah."

    Yes, he did—an’ Pher’oh’s ahmy

    Wasn’t wuth a ha’f a dime;

    Fu’ de Lawd will he’p his chillun,

    You kin trust him evah time.

    An’ yo’ enemies may ’sail you

    In de back an’ in de front;

    But de Lawd is all aroun’ you,

    Fu’ to ba’ de battle’s brunt.

    Dey kin fo’ge yo’ chains an’ shackles

    F’om de mountains to de sea;

    But de Lawd will sen’ some Moses

    Fu’ to set his chillun free.

    An’ de lan’ shall hyeah his thundah,

    Lak a blas’ f’om Gab’el’s ho’n,

    Fu’ de Lawd of hosts is mighty

    When he girds his ahmor on.

    But fu’ feah some one mistakes me,

    I will pause right hyeah to say,

    Dat I ’m still a-preachin’ ancient,

    I ain’t talkin’ ’bout to-day.

    But I tell you, fellah christuns,

    Things’ll happen mighty strange;

    Now, de Lawd done dis fu’ Isrul,

    An’ his ways don’t nevah change,

    An’ de love he showed to Isrul

    Was n’t all on Isrul spent;

    Now don’t run an’ tell yo’ mastahs

    Dat I’s preachin’ discontent.

    ’Cause I isn’t; I’se a-judgin’

    Bible people by deir ac’s;

    I ’se a-givin’ you de Scriptuah,

    I ’se a-handin’ you de fac’s.

    Cose ole Pher’oh b’lieved in slav’ry,

    But de Lawd he let him see,

    Dat de people he put bref in,—

    Evah mothah’s son was free.

    An’ dahs othahs thinks lak Pher’oh,

    But dey calls de Scriptuah liar,

    Fu’ de Bible says "a servant

    Is a-worthy of his hire."

    An’ you cain’t git roun’ nor thoo dat,

    An’ you cain’t git ovah it,

    Fu’ whatevah place you git in,

    Dis hyeah Bible too ’ll fit.

    So you see de Lawd’s intention,

    Evah sence de worl’ began,

    Was dat His almighty freedom

    Should belong to evah man,

    But I think it would be bettah,

    Ef I’d pause agin to say,

    Dat I’m talkin’ ’bout ouah freedom

    In a Bibleistic way.

    But de Moses is a-comin’,

    An’ he’s comin’, suah and fas’

    We kin hyeah his feet a-trompin’,

    We kin hyeah his trumpit blas’.

    But I want to wa’n you people,

    Don’t you git too brigity;

    An’ don’t you git to braggin’

    ’Bout dese things, you wait an’ see.

    But when Moses wif his powah

    Comes an’ sets us chillun free,

    We will praise de gracious Mastah.

    Dat has gin us liberty;

    An’ we ’ll shout ouah halleluyahs,

    On dat mighty reck’nin’ day,

    When we ’se reco’nised ez citiz’—

    Huh uh! Chillun, let us pray!

    ODE TO ETHIOPIA

    O Mother Race! to thee I bring

    This pledge of faith unwavering,

    This tribute to thy glory.

    I know the pangs which thou didst feel,

    When Slavery crushed thee with its heel,

    With thy dear blood all gory.

    Sad days were those—ah, sad indeed!

    But through the land the fruitful seed

    Of better times was growing.

    The plant of freedom upward sprung,

    And spread its leaves so fresh and young—

    Its blossoms now are blowing.

    On every hand in this fair land,

    Proud Ethiope’s swarthy children stand

    Beside their fairer neighbor;

    The forests flee before their stroke,

    Their hammers ring, their forges smoke,—

    They stir in honest labour.

    They tread the fields where honour calls;

    Their voices sound through senate halls

    In majesty and power.

    To right they cling; the hymns they sing

    Up to the skies in beauty ring,

    And bolder grow each hour.

    Be proud, my Race, in mind and soul;

    Thy name is writ on Glory’s scroll

    In characters of fire.

    High ’mid the clouds of Fame’s bright sky

    Thy banner’s blazoned folds now fly,

    And truth shall lift them higher.

    Thou hast the right to noble pride,

    Whose spotless robes were purified

    By blood’s severe baptism.

    Upon thy brow the cross was laid,

    And labour’s painful sweat-beads made

    A consecrating chrism.

    No other race, or white or black,

    When bound as thou wert, to the rack,

    So seldom stooped to grieving;

    No other race, when free again,

    Forgot the past and proved them men

    So noble in forgiving.

    Go on and up! Our souls and eyes

    Shall follow thy continuous rise;

    Our ears shall list thy story

    From bards who from thy root shall spring,

    And proudly tune their lyres to sing

    Of Ethiopia’s glory.

    THE CORN-STALK FIDDLE

    When the corn ’s all cut and the bright stalks shine

    Like the burnished spears of a field of gold;

    When the field-mice rich on the nubbins dine,

    And the frost comes white and the wind blows cold;

    Then it’s heigho! fellows and hi-diddle-diddle,

    For the time is ripe for the corn-stalk fiddle.

    And you take a stalk that is straight and long,

    With an expert eye to its worthy points,

    And you think of the bubbling strains of song

    That are bound between its pithy joints—

    Then you cut out strings, with a bridge in the middle,

    With a corn-stalk bow for a corn-stalk fiddle.

    Then the strains that grow as you draw the bow

    O’er the yielding strings with a practised hand!

    And the music’s flow never loud but low

    Is the concert note of a fairy band.

    Oh, your dainty songs are a misty riddle

    To the simple sweets of the corn-stalk fiddle.

    When the eve comes on, and our work is done,

    And the sun drops down with a tender glance,

    With their hearts all prime for the harmless fun,

    Come the neighbor girls for the evening’s dance,

    And they wait for the well-known twist and twiddle—

    More time than tune—from the corn-stalk fiddle.

    Then brother Jabez takes the bow,

    While Ned

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