Selected Poems

by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Book Overview

Dubbed the Poet Laureate of the Negro race by Booker T. Washington, Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) is best known for his lively dialect poems. In addition to his dialect verse, however, Dunbar also wrote fine poems in standard English that captured many elements of the black experience in America.
This volume contains a representative cross-section of both types of verse, including Ode to Ethiopia, Worn Out, Not They Who Soar, When Malindy Sings,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486299805
• ISBN13: 9780486299808
• Release Date: July 1997
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 80 Pages
• Weight: 0.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.3" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

A pleasant surprise

For all the times I've read that this poet-friend of the Wright Brothers is best known for his dialect poems, I'd never really considered the corollary: that he was a fine poet in standard English as well. And what poems they are! If poetry is supposed to be a subjective and emotional art, Mr. Dunbar has mastered it. I felt my heart wrenched over more than one poem. This is a very nice volume to have if one wants a sampling of Mr. Dunbar's art in an inexpensive format. Dover has done a great job in the selection, balancing the dialect poems and the standard English ones. If you only want one volume from this poet, this is the one to get.