Song (Wintah, summah, snow er shine)

Song (Wintah, summah, snow er shine)

By Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872–1906 Paul Laurence Dunbar
Wintah, summah, snow er shine,
   Hit's all de same to me,
Ef only I kin call you mine,
   An' keep you by my knee.

Ha'dship, frolic, grief er caih,
   Content by night an' day,
Ef only I kin see you whaih
   You wait beside de way.

Livin', dyin', smiles er teahs,
   My soul will still be free,
Ef only thoo de comin' yeahs
   You walk de worl' wid me.

Bird-song, breeze-wail, chune er moan,
   What puny t'ings dey'll be,
Ef w'en I's seemin' all erlone,
   I knows yo' hea't's wid me.

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Poet Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872–1906

SCHOOL / PERIOD Modern

Subjects Marriage & Companionship, Nature, Relationships, Living, Love, Romantic Love

Poetic Terms Common Measure

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Paul Laurence Dunbar

Biography

Paul Laurence Dunbar is widely acknowledged as the first important black poet in American literature. He enjoyed his greatest popularity in the early twentieth century following the publication of dialectic verse in collections such as Majors and Minors and Lyrics of Lowly Life. But the dialectic poems constitute only a small portion of Dunbar's canon, which is replete with novels, short stories, essays, and many poems in . . .

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Poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar

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SUBJECT Marriage & Companionship, Nature, Relationships, Living, Love, Romantic Love

SCHOOL / PERIOD Modern

Poetic Terms Common Measure

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Originally appeared in Poetry magazine.

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