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,