One of the first African Americans to gain
national recognition as a poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar was born in
Ohio in 1872, the son of former slaves, Dunbar died at the early
age of 33, but was quite prolific in his work, writing many short
stories, novels, plays, songs, essays, and the poetry he became
most famous for. He gave credit for his success to his mother,
whose excitement for poetry spurred him to begin writing and
reciting poems at age six. Popular with both black and white
readers of his day Dunbar’s style encompasses two distinct
voices—the standard English of classical poets and the evocative
dialect of turn-of-the.century black America, He was very gifted in
using this dialect to convey character, His poetry often addresses
the difficulties encountered by blacks in America,
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