Selected Poems

by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0142437824
• ISBN13: 9780142437827
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 235 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.1" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary 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.