PaginePaul Laurence Dunbar, the son of parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky, grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and became one of the first African American poets to win a national audience. He wrote both in standard English and in dialect; his poem “Sympathy” gave Maya Angelou the title I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
Public-domain poems, free to read and print.
Source editions for the poems on this page (public domain):
Yes. Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poems are in the public domain, and you can read 20 of them here or as a flip book.
Lyrics of Lowly Life (1896), Lyrics of the Hearthside (1899).