Selected Poems (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Paul Laurence Dunbar (Author), Herbert Martin (Contributor)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: March 30, 2004

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 lyricist, Dunbar was also a master of classical poetic forms, who helped demonstrate to post–Civil War America that literary genius did not reside solely in artists of European descent. William Dean Howells called Dunbar’s dialect poems “evidence of the essential unity of the human race, which does not think or feel black in one and white in another, but humanly in all.”

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906) was born to two former slaves. While working as an elevator operator, he published his first poetry collection. His second collection in 1895 thrust him into the national spotlight and garnered praise from the white and black elite. He ultimately produced twelve books of poetry, several stories and plays, and five novels.

Herbert Woodward Martin is a professor at the University of Dayton. He is an active fan and promoter of Dunbar’s work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142437824
• ISBN-13: 978-0142437827
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #908,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant surprise, May 1, 2000

By 

Douglas R. Mosier (Iowa City, IA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Selected Poems (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)

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.