The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-04-19

Paul Laurence Dunbar' s
Latest VeHses Sh0g0 q
Marked -Ad1nnce O0er
Pre0l0ats Efforts.
~ WIGS OF LOVE AND LAUGH

EGT YRICs OF LOVE AND LAUGH
l. TER" the third volume of
verse by Paul Laurence Dunbar, may
attract less attention than its predeces-
sors, since his name is no longer q
novelty. It Is, however. in some re-
speets, his best work IN the line OF
verse. The crudities which marked his
first Lyrics are not entirely absent
from some Of these, but the imDeTfec-
lions OF this volume are far less numer-
Gus, and It contains two or three poems
which are of quite unusual merit. Much
OF the work consists OF that dialect
verse upon which the fame of this
author must chiefly rest. since it is al
most the only good verse in plantation
dialect which we have; but here and
there IS a singularly fine bit of poetry
In pure English. The best example Of
the latter is ''The Haunted Oak IN
which Mr. Dunbar has,, perhaps, attained
the highest point OF his art. Certainly
no subject connected with the life Of
the negro in America could be more
telling, or better handled, than in this
weird little ballad OF a haunted tree.
The author has adopted the odd expedt-
.eut Of making the tree tell the story,
(which iss by the way. founded on fact.
AN oak near Petersburg, Va. on which
lsnAnnOeent man was Iynched some years
isgo. IS said 20 be haunted, and the le-
gend guns that. no leaves have grown
ON the limb from which the man vas
hanged
OF the- dialect poems one OF the best
IS III CALI q scrap OF 2 ioYe-song
which Is fun of music and fun and hu-
man nature. and the strongest possible
contrast 10 the wretchsd and vulgar
doggereI, which, in connection with the
so-calIed ''Fag-tine,'' passes as negro
verse. This little lyric Is IS far re
moved from any sti1ted expression OF
,incongruous romanca as from the lat
teT-day "coon song" and. while it is
poetry, # is entirely natural and appro-
pirate. This. in fact. is true OF all the
dialect work IN the book. Encourage
,ment's Is pure low comedy. So are In
ixhe Morning." "a Plea" and half a
dozen others OF the same Tx.
In the more serious poems there Is
sometimes s. note Of pesstmism, as in
the concluding lines of this sonnet on
Robert Gould Shaw.
Far better the SLOW blaze Of LearniDg's light,
The cool and quiet Of har de4rz fame,
Than this hot terror Of hopeless fight,
This cold endurance Of the final pain
Since thou and those who With thee died FOR
right
Have died. the Present teaches, but IN vainl
The same note sounds IN a poem deal
ing with convict camps and lynch law
in which these stanzas occur:
What, was it ali for naught these awful years
That dTenGhed groaning land with blood and
tearsf
Mas It y leave this sly convenient he'll,
That brother fighting bis own brotheF fell2
When that great struggle held the world In awe
and all the nations blsnehed az what they saw,
Did sanctioned slavery bow, It's conquered head
That this ursznctioned crime might rise instead
Il IS not all pessimisn, however. and
tn q sonnet on Booker Washington, q
poem on the progress OF his race, and
other verses. Mr.. Dunbar expresses
something Of the confidence in the uld-
mate outcome of right, which led So
5ourner Truth once, at the crisis OF
the anti-slavery struggle and the close
OF an impassiOBed and pessimistiC
speech of Frederick Douglass, 10 change
the sentiment of the excited audience
With the simple and solemn question:
Frederick. is God dead%" New York:
Dedd. Mead & Coz