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The Awakening

Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906

I DID not know that life could be so sweet,
I did not know the hours could speed so fleet,
Till I knew you, and life was sweet again.
The days grew brief with love and lack of pain —
I was a slave a few short days ago,
The powers of Kings and Princes now I know;
I would not be again in bondage, save
I had your smile, the liberty I crave.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

22 sec read
120

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABCDDEE
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 342
Words 76
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 8
Full analysis for The Awakening »

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…

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