For Paul Laurence Dunbar
Born of the sorrowful of heart,
Mirth was a crown upon his head;
Pride, kept his twisted lips apart
In jest, to hide a heart that bled.
This poem is in the public domain.
Once riding in old Baltimore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,
I saw a Baltimorean
Keep looking straight at me.
What is Africa to me:
Copper sun or scarlet sea,
Jungle star or jungle track,
Strong bronzed men, or regal black
Women from whose loins I sprang
When the birds of Eden sang?
One three centuries removed
From the scenes his fathers loved,