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Lyrics of Lowly Life
Using Negro dialect and folk material the Black poet lyrically evokes Negro life in the late 1800's
- GenresPoetryAfrican American
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1896
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178 people want to read
About the author
Paul Laurence Dunbar
369 books135 followersPaul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was a seminal American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 Lyrics of a Lowly Life, one poem in the collection Ode to Ethiopia. In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Paul Laurence Dunbar on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.
Dunbar was born in Dayton, Ohio to parents who had escaped from slavery; his father was a veteran of the American Civil War, having served in the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and the 5th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry Regiment. His parents instilled in him a love of learning and history. He was a student at an all-white high school, Dayton Central High School, and he participated actively as a student. During high school, he was both the editor of the school newspaper and class president, as well as the president of the school literary society. Dunbar had also started the first African-American newsletter in Dayton.
He wrote his first poem at age 6 and gave his first public recital at age 9. Dunbar's first published work came in a newspaper put out by his high school friends Wilbur and Orville Wright, who owned a printing plant. The Wright Brothers later invested in the Dayton Tattler, a newspaper aimed at the black community, edited and published by Dunbar.
His first collection of poetry, Oak and Ivy, was published in 1892 and attracted the attention of James Whitcomb Riley, the popular "Hoosier Poet". Both Riley and Dunbar wrote poems in both standard English and dialect. His second book, Majors and Minors (1895) brought him national fame and the patronage of William Dean Howells, the novelist and critic and editor of Harper's Weekly. After Howells' praise, his first two books were combined as Lyrics of Lowly Life and Dunbar started on a career of international literary fame. He moved to Washington, D.C., in the LeDroit Park neighborhood. While in Washington, he attended Howard University.
He kept a lifelong friendship with the Wrights, and was also associated with Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington. Brand Whitlock was also described as a close friend.[2] He was honored with a ceremonial sword by President Theodore Roosevelt.
He wrote a dozen books of poetry, four books of short stories, five novels, and a play. He also wrote lyrics for In Dahomey - the first musical written and performed entirely by African-Americans to appear on Broadway in 1903; the musical comedy successfully toured England and America over a period of four years - one of the more successful theatrical productions of its time.[3] His essays and poems were published widely in the leading journals of the day. His work appeared in Harper's Weekly, the Saturday Evening Post, the Denver Post, Current Literature and a number of other publications. During his life, considerable emphasis was laid on the fact that Dunbar was of pure black descent, with no white ancestors ever.
Dunbar's work is known for its colorful language and use of dialect, and a conversational tone, with a brilliant rhetorical structure.
Dunbar traveled to England in 1897 to recite his works on the London literary circuit. He met the brilliant young black composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor who some of his poems to music and who was influenced by Dunbar to use African and American Negro songs and tunes in future compositions.
After returning from England, Dunbar married Alice Ruth Moore in 1898. A graduate of Straight University (now Dillard University) in New Orleans, her most famous works include a short story entitled "Violets". She and her husband also wrote books of poetry as companion pieces. An account of their love, life and marriage was depicted in a play by Kathleen McGhee-Anderson titled Oak and Ivy.
Dunbar took a job at the Library of Congress in Washington. In 1900, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and moved to Colorado with his wife on the advice of his doctors. Dunbar died at age 33.
Dunbar was born in Dayton, Ohio to parents who had escaped from slavery; his father was a veteran of the American Civil War, having served in the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment and the 5th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry Regiment. His parents instilled in him a love of learning and history. He was a student at an all-white high school, Dayton Central High School, and he participated actively as a student. During high school, he was both the editor of the school newspaper and class president, as well as the president of the school literary society. Dunbar had also started the first African-American newsletter in Dayton.
He wrote his first poem at age 6 and gave his first public recital at age 9. Dunbar's first published work came in a newspaper put out by his high school friends Wilbur and Orville Wright, who owned a printing plant. The Wright Brothers later invested in the Dayton Tattler, a newspaper aimed at the black community, edited and published by Dunbar.
His first collection of poetry, Oak and Ivy, was published in 1892 and attracted the attention of James Whitcomb Riley, the popular "Hoosier Poet". Both Riley and Dunbar wrote poems in both standard English and dialect. His second book, Majors and Minors (1895) brought him national fame and the patronage of William Dean Howells, the novelist and critic and editor of Harper's Weekly. After Howells' praise, his first two books were combined as Lyrics of Lowly Life and Dunbar started on a career of international literary fame. He moved to Washington, D.C., in the LeDroit Park neighborhood. While in Washington, he attended Howard University.
He kept a lifelong friendship with the Wrights, and was also associated with Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington. Brand Whitlock was also described as a close friend.[2] He was honored with a ceremonial sword by President Theodore Roosevelt.
He wrote a dozen books of poetry, four books of short stories, five novels, and a play. He also wrote lyrics for In Dahomey - the first musical written and performed entirely by African-Americans to appear on Broadway in 1903; the musical comedy successfully toured England and America over a period of four years - one of the more successful theatrical productions of its time.[3] His essays and poems were published widely in the leading journals of the day. His work appeared in Harper's Weekly, the Saturday Evening Post, the Denver Post, Current Literature and a number of other publications. During his life, considerable emphasis was laid on the fact that Dunbar was of pure black descent, with no white ancestors ever.
Dunbar's work is known for its colorful language and use of dialect, and a conversational tone, with a brilliant rhetorical structure.
Dunbar traveled to England in 1897 to recite his works on the London literary circuit. He met the brilliant young black composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor who some of his poems to music and who was influenced by Dunbar to use African and American Negro songs and tunes in future compositions.
After returning from England, Dunbar married Alice Ruth Moore in 1898. A graduate of Straight University (now Dillard University) in New Orleans, her most famous works include a short story entitled "Violets". She and her husband also wrote books of poetry as companion pieces. An account of their love, life and marriage was depicted in a play by Kathleen McGhee-Anderson titled Oak and Ivy.
Dunbar took a job at the Library of Congress in Washington. In 1900, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and moved to Colorado with his wife on the advice of his doctors. Dunbar died at age 33.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 16, 2020
"Paul Laurence Dunbar stands out as the first poet from the Negro race in the United States to show a combined mastery over poetic material and poetic technique, to reveal innate literary distinction in what he wrote, and to maintain a high level of performance. He was the first to rise to a height from which he could take a perspective view of his own race. He was the first to see objectively its humor, its superstitions, its shortcomings; the first to feel sympathetically its heart-wounds, its yearnings, its aspirations, and to voice them all in a purely literary form." - James Weldon Johnson, Introduction to The Book of American Negro Poetry
"I cannot undertake to prophesy concerning this; but if he should do nothing more than he has done, I should feel that he had made the strongest claim for the negro in English literature that the negro has yet made. He has at least produced something that, however we may critically disagree about it, we cannot well refuse to enjoy; in more than one piece he has produced a work of art." - From the introduction by William Dean Howells.
"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." - first two stanzas of "The Poet and His Song"
I had read this book years ago in college, but had forgotten how great it was. I'm glad that I have revisited it. Paul Laurence Dunbar did not live a long time, but made an immediate impact in African-American literature that would sustain itself until Langston Hughes' ascendancy. He was part of a literary explosion occurring around the turn-of-the-20th century. His poetry is standard of what American's did at that time, but what made him stand-out was his style. Dunbar wrote in three different dialects of English. I have already talked briefly about Paul Laurence Dunbar in my review of The Black Poets, but now I will talk a little more in-depth and we can look at some more of his poetry. The three "dialects" of English that Dunbar uses are Standard English (of the late-Victorian era), African-American Vernacular English and the old Midwest dialects of southern Ohio and Indiana. Here is a recital of three poems using the Mid-West, Standard and AAVE dialects, respectively, by the legendary baritone William Warfield: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9chQU...
Dunbar, whose parents had been enslaved in neighboring Kentucky before the American Civil War, first started publishing poetry in high school (he was the only black student there). He got his first two smaller volumes of poetry printed at the print shop ran by one of his school friends Orville Wright (yes THAT Orville Wright). One of the poems from those volumes, Ode To Ethiopia, went viral and made Dunbar a household name. That poem was included in this volume his first major volume of poetry. I knew of his standard and "negro" dialect poems, but I had not been really exposed to his Mid-West poems until I read this.
"He scribbles some in prose and verse,
And now and then he prints it;
He paints a little,—gathers some
Of Nature's gold and mints it.
He plays a little, sings a song,
Acts tragic roles, or funny;
He does, because his love is strong,
But not, oh, not for money!
He studies almost everything
From social art to science;
A thirsty mind, a flowing spring,
Demand and swift compliance.
He looms above the sordid crowd—
At least through friendly lenses;
While his mamma looks pleased and proud,
And kindly pays expenses." - "THE DILETTANTE: A MODERN TYPE"
"I cannot undertake to prophesy concerning this; but if he should do nothing more than he has done, I should feel that he had made the strongest claim for the negro in English literature that the negro has yet made. He has at least produced something that, however we may critically disagree about it, we cannot well refuse to enjoy; in more than one piece he has produced a work of art." - From the introduction by William Dean Howells.
"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." - first two stanzas of "The Poet and His Song"
I had read this book years ago in college, but had forgotten how great it was. I'm glad that I have revisited it. Paul Laurence Dunbar did not live a long time, but made an immediate impact in African-American literature that would sustain itself until Langston Hughes' ascendancy. He was part of a literary explosion occurring around the turn-of-the-20th century. His poetry is standard of what American's did at that time, but what made him stand-out was his style. Dunbar wrote in three different dialects of English. I have already talked briefly about Paul Laurence Dunbar in my review of The Black Poets, but now I will talk a little more in-depth and we can look at some more of his poetry. The three "dialects" of English that Dunbar uses are Standard English (of the late-Victorian era), African-American Vernacular English and the old Midwest dialects of southern Ohio and Indiana. Here is a recital of three poems using the Mid-West, Standard and AAVE dialects, respectively, by the legendary baritone William Warfield: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9chQU...
Dunbar, whose parents had been enslaved in neighboring Kentucky before the American Civil War, first started publishing poetry in high school (he was the only black student there). He got his first two smaller volumes of poetry printed at the print shop ran by one of his school friends Orville Wright (yes THAT Orville Wright). One of the poems from those volumes, Ode To Ethiopia, went viral and made Dunbar a household name. That poem was included in this volume his first major volume of poetry. I knew of his standard and "negro" dialect poems, but I had not been really exposed to his Mid-West poems until I read this.
Ther' ain't no use in all this strife,Dunbar fame put him in contact with many prominent African-Americans of the day, but he was never able to achieve the post-graduate education he wanted. He was in contact with the two biggest Afro-Americans of the day Booker T. Washington & W.E.B. Du Bois. He even wrote an essay about them and other personalities at the turn of the 20th century called Representative American Negroes. He was publishing his poetry at the same time that Charles W. Chesnutt was publishing his stories and Scott Joplin was writing his compositions. Now I've never been the biggest fan of the black dialect poems, but they are not that bad. I especially am partial to Maya Angelou's interpretation of "A Negro Love Song":
An' hurryin', pell-mell, right thro' life.
I don't believe in goin' too fast
To see what kind o' road you 've passed.
It ain't no mortal kind o' good,
'N' I would n't hurry ef I could.
I like to jest go joggin' 'long,
To limber up my soul with song;
To stop awhile 'n' chat the men,
'N' drink some cider now an' then.
Do' want no boss a-standin' by
To see me work; I allus try
To do my dooty right straight up,
An' earn what fills my plate an' cup.
An' ez fur boss, I 'll be my own,
I like to jest be let alone;
To plough my strip an' tend my bees,
An' do jest like I doggoned please.
My head's all right, an' my heart's meller,
But I 'm a easy-goin' feller. - "An Easy Goin'Feller"
It is amazing that Paul Laurence Dunbar is not more well known now--I regard this as a testament to how the poets of the Harlem Renaissance on built on the foundation of Dunbar, especially Langston Hughes. But if folks no longer read Dunbar past "Sympathy ("I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings") or We Wear the Mask, his legacy can be found in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio and in African-American neighborhoods all over the United States. What I like about this volume of poetry is that it is so local. Besides one poem dedicated to Frederick Douglass, most of the people and places referenced are of Dayton, Ohio or his parents' state of Kentucky. In addition, because of the impact he made in African-American literature during his brief life, when he suddenly died of tuberculosis at the age of 33, black public schools across the country named or renamed schools after Dunbar. Both my mother's and father's hometown have schools named after him; paternal-grandmother went to Washington, D.C.'s Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (originally the oldest black high school in the United States of America).
Seen my lady home las' night,
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Hel' huh han' an' sque'z it tight,
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Hyeahd huh sigh a little sigh,
Seen a light gleam f'om huh eye,
An' a smile go flittin' by—
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Hyeahd de win' blow thoo de pine,
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Mockin'-bird was singin' fine,
Jump back, honey, jump back.
An' my hea't was beatin' so,
When I reached my lady's do',
Dat I could n't ba' to go—
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Put my ahm aroun' huh wais',
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Raised huh lips an' took a tase,
Jump back, honey, jump back.
Love me, honey, love me true?
Love me well ez I love you?
An' she answe'd, "'Cose I do"—
Jump back, honey, jump back.
"He scribbles some in prose and verse,
And now and then he prints it;
He paints a little,—gathers some
Of Nature's gold and mints it.
He plays a little, sings a song,
Acts tragic roles, or funny;
He does, because his love is strong,
But not, oh, not for money!
He studies almost everything
From social art to science;
A thirsty mind, a flowing spring,
Demand and swift compliance.
He looms above the sordid crowd—
At least through friendly lenses;
While his mamma looks pleased and proud,
And kindly pays expenses." - "THE DILETTANTE: A MODERN TYPE"
March 2, 2021
Almost all of these poems appear in Majors and Minors and/or Oak and Ivy, but I'm not complaining, cuz good poems deserve to be read more than once.
("Conscience and Remorse" could be read as a summary of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Just sayin'.)
("Conscience and Remorse" could be read as a summary of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Just sayin'.)
October 29, 2020
Some of the poems were easier to understand than others. I liked reading the longer poems which usually contained scenes from daily life, thoughts and stories.
Poems which I liked:
Unexpressed
Deep in my heart that aches with the repression,
And strives with plenitude of bitter pain,
There lives a thought that clamors for expression,
And spends its undelivered force in vain.
What boots it that some other may have thought it?
The right of thoughts’ expression is divine;
The price of pain I pay for it has bought it,
I care not who lays claim to it—’t is mine!
And yet not mine until it be delivered;
The manner of its birth shall prove the test.
Alas, alas, my rock of pride is shivered—
I beat my brow—the thought still unexpressed.
Comparison
The sky of brightest gray seems dark
To one whose sky was ever white.
To one who never knew a spark,
Thro’ all his life, of love or light,
The grayest cloud seems over–bright.
The robin sounds a beggar’s note
Where one the nightingale has heard,
But he for whom no silver throat
Its liquid music ever stirred,
Deems robin still the sweetest bird.
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.
I listened to some of the audio recordings and also read them out loud which I found fun. This is available at https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/187/lyrics...
Poems which I liked:
Unexpressed
Deep in my heart that aches with the repression,
And strives with plenitude of bitter pain,
There lives a thought that clamors for expression,
And spends its undelivered force in vain.
What boots it that some other may have thought it?
The right of thoughts’ expression is divine;
The price of pain I pay for it has bought it,
I care not who lays claim to it—’t is mine!
And yet not mine until it be delivered;
The manner of its birth shall prove the test.
Alas, alas, my rock of pride is shivered—
I beat my brow—the thought still unexpressed.
Comparison
The sky of brightest gray seems dark
To one whose sky was ever white.
To one who never knew a spark,
Thro’ all his life, of love or light,
The grayest cloud seems over–bright.
The robin sounds a beggar’s note
Where one the nightingale has heard,
But he for whom no silver throat
Its liquid music ever stirred,
Deems robin still the sweetest bird.
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.
I listened to some of the audio recordings and also read them out loud which I found fun. This is available at https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/187/lyrics...
February 19, 2025
I have a soft spot for the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar. As a Music Composition major back in college, I was looking for public domain poetry to set to music, and I stumbled across a collection of his poems in the university library. I am really not into much poetry, probably because I don't understand much of it. But these poems are clear and straightforward. They are a joy to read aloud as the rhythms of the words just dance.
Dunbar's negro dialect poems are best read aloud, I find. Since the words are spelled out phonetically (example: "I couldn't skeercely help but see."), they are often more easily translated when read aloud.
But if you are unfamiliar with Dunbar, he writes more styles than just the dialect pieces.
If you would like to enjoy some poetry but have a short attention span like I do, seek out Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Dunbar's negro dialect poems are best read aloud, I find. Since the words are spelled out phonetically (example: "I couldn't skeercely help but see."), they are often more easily translated when read aloud.
But if you are unfamiliar with Dunbar, he writes more styles than just the dialect pieces.
If you would like to enjoy some poetry but have a short attention span like I do, seek out Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Want to read
September 15, 2024So far, I've only read one poem in this volume, the tender, lyrical "Invitation to Love," but I memorized it, recited it at my dear sister's recent wedding, and just about lost it, overcome with emotion.
The volume I have is not listed on Goodreads yet. It's a gift from my brother, who scoured the interwebs for the earliest copy he could find. He ultimately scored this handsomely aged hardback edition the size of my hand, with embossed brown cover, published 1928. "Peggy" scrawled her signature on the front page, and it was checked out twice from Smith County High School Library. Go Owls!
The volume I have is not listed on Goodreads yet. It's a gift from my brother, who scoured the interwebs for the earliest copy he could find. He ultimately scored this handsomely aged hardback edition the size of my hand, with embossed brown cover, published 1928. "Peggy" scrawled her signature on the front page, and it was checked out twice from Smith County High School Library. Go Owls!
October 5, 2015
Dunbar's poetry covers a strikingly wide range of subjects and styles; it attests to the possibilities of the literary multiculturalism of the late 19th century, but the quality of lines attests to Dunbar's own genius.
March 19, 2024
Not every poem here ages well, but when this book also contains poems as powerful as “We Wear the Masks,” nothing lower than 4 stars feels adequate.
August 5, 2008
An absolute genius, Dunbar could compose eloquent verse using both elegantly refined language and the vernacular of his roots. His poetry speaks loudly and clearly across the years, touching my heart every time I read it.
August 9, 2011
Dang good. Loved most of the poetry in the book. It was awesome.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews