Listen to “Sympathy” (1899) by Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Learn more about Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906):
Paul Laurence Dunbar was one the first influential black poets 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 standard English. Read more from the biography of Dunbar at the Poetry Foundation.
A brief biography of Dunbar (Academy of American Poets)
His life and comments on his poems (Modern American Poetry HP)
Photo Gallery of Dunbar (Paul Laurence Dunbar Digital Collection)
Paul Laurence Dunbar’s home in Dayton, Ohio: A tour from buckeymuse.