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Paul Laurence Dunbar
“We
smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from
tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the
clay is vile
Beneath our felt,
and long the mile;
But let the world
dream other-wise
We wear the mask!”
-Paul Laurence Dunbar
Biographical
Information
Paul Laurence Dunbar was born June 27, 1872 in Dayton,
Ohio. He is the son of former slaves
Joshua and Matilda Dunbar. Dunbar is
known to be the first important Black poet in American literature.
While
growing up without a father, Dunbar’s mother encouraged her children to
read,
especially poetry. Dunbar attended schools in Dayton and was the only
black
student in his class. He was class
president
and class poet in his graduating high school class.
Dunbar had already published poems before
graduating. He hoped to pursue a law
degree but had to take up a job as an elevator operator because his
widowed
mother was unable to finance his schooling.
The word spread about Dunbar’s poetry and he
was able to publish his
first book of poetry in 1892, Oak and Ivy.
His second collection of poetry Majors and
Minors was published in 1896. Lyrics
of Lowly Life was also published
in that year. In 1896, he went on a
six-month tour through Europe reading his poetry. When
he returned in 1898 he married fellow
writer Alice Ruth Moore. During this
time his health began to decline, but he still wrote and published many
works
of literature and maintained his fame.
Dunbar and Alice separated in 1902, which
added depression to his
psychological and physiological illnesses and he turned to alcohol to
subdue
the pain. For the next four years, he
continued to work, write, and travel though he battled tuberculosis and
alcoholism. He died on February 9, 1906
while at home with his mother in Dayton, Ohio.
Critical Overview
In his short 33-year lifespan, Dunbar was able to publish 12
books of poetry, four books of short stories, a play and five novels. Dunbar was widely known for his black dialect
poetry and southern plantation stories.
These works won much acclaim during the late
19th and early 20th
century, but presently Dunbar is under attack for belittling and
degrading the
stereotypes of southern Blacks. Many
of
Dunbar’s Standard English poems were quite popular at the time, and
much less
ridiculed by the other black activists at the time.
His Standard English poems were seen as a
bore to the popular white writers and they preferred his dialect poetry
and promoted
it to bring his fame. After his death in
1906, Dunbar was considered America’s first Black poet.
His dialect poetry was renowned as his
greatest achievements but scholars questioned their veracity. Today, Dunbar’s legacy has grown more
prominent and he is still viewed as America’s first major black
poet
and not only are his dialect poems still popular today, his standard
English
poems are deemed some of the greatest works in literature.
Many writers of today such as Nikki Giovanni
and the late Addison Gayle, Jr. prize Dunbar for his great successes in
literature.
Selected
Bibilography
Works by the
author
Oak and Ivy
(1893)
Majors and Minors: Poems (1895)
Lyrics of Lowly Life (1897)
Who Dat Say Chicken In
Dis Crowd (1898)
Folks from Dixie
(1898)
The Uncalled
(1898)
Lyrics of the
Hearthside (1899)
Poems of Cabin and
Field (1899)
The Strength of Gideon
and Other Stories (1900)
The Fanatics
(1901)
The Sport of the Gods
(1902)
Lyrics of Love and
Laughter (1903)
Li'L Gal (1904)
Lyrics of Sunshine and
Shadow (1905)
Howdy Honey Howdy
(1905)
Works about the
author
Campus, Ogontz and
Grant, William E. Dictionary of Literary Biography: American
Short-Story
Writers 1880-1910. Ed. Bobby Ellen Kimbel. Vol. 78
Related Links
http://www.plethoreum.org/dunbar/
-Here you can find a biography and a collection of Paul
Laurence Dunbar’s works on this site.
Plus links to find more information on the
author can be found
here.
http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/bassr/heath/syllabuild/iguide/dunbarp.html
-This site is a brief analysis of Dunbar’s writing.
It critiques his style and some of his works.
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/dunbar/dunbar.htm
-This site gives a biography on Dunbar and gives many
authors’ critiques on Dunbar’s major works. This site has many literary
critiques on Dunbar’s works.
This page was researched and
submitted by Nicole
Carfagno. Please contact the editor with any questions or
suggestions. |
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