Dream Song II

Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906



Pray, what can dreams avail
To make love or to mar?
The child within the cradle rail
Lies dreaming of the star.
But is the star by this beguiled
To leave its place and seek the child?

The poor plucked rose within its glass
Still dreameth of the bee;
But, tho' the lagging moments pass,
Her Love she may not see.
If dream of child and flower fail,
Why should a maiden's dreams prevail?

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

23 sec read
66

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCC DEDEAA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 381
Words 76
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 6, 6

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar was a seminal American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 Lyrics of a Lowly Life one poem in the collection being Ode to Ethiopia more…

All Paul Laurence Dunbar poems | Paul Laurence Dunbar Books

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