Page:The complete poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar.pdf/43

  When ripened gold is all the plain, I put my sickle to the grain. I labor hard, and toil and sweat, While others dream within the dell; But even while my brow is wet, I sing my song, and all is well. Sometimes the sun, unkindly hot, My garden makes a desert spot; Sometimes a blight upon the tree Takes all my fruit away from me; And then with throes of bitter pain Rebellious passions rise and swell; But—life is more than fruit or grain,
 * And so I sing, and all is well.

 

" art a fool," said my head to my heart, "Indeed, the greatest of fools thou art,
 * To be led astray by the trick of a tress,

By a smiling face or a ribbon smart;"
 * And my heart was in sore distress.

Then Phyllis came by, and her face was fair, The light gleamed soft on her raven hair;
 * And her lips were blooming a rosy red.

Then my heart spoke out with a right bold air: "Thou art worse than a fool, O head!"  

ain't got no right to censuah othah folks about dey habits; Him dat giv' de squir'ls de bushtails made de bobtails fu' de rabbits. Him dat built de gread big mountains hollered out de little valleys, Him dat made de streets an' driveways wasn't shamed to make de alleys. We is all constructed diff'ent, d'ain't no two of us de same; We cain't he'p ouah likes an' dislikes, ef we'se bad we ain't to blame. Ef we'se good, we need n't show off, case you bet it ain't ouah doin' We gits into su'ttain channels dat we jes' cain't he'p pu'suin'. But we all fits into places dat no othah ones could fill, An' we does the things we has to, big er little, good er ill. John cain't tek de place o' Henry, Su an' Sally ain't alike; Bass ain't nuthin' like a suckah, chub ain't nuthin' like a pike. 