By the Stream by Paul Laurence Dunbar

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend April 25, 2015   By the Stream   Paul Laurence Dunbar

By the stream I dream in calm delight, and watch as in a glass, How the clouds like crowds of snowy-hued and white-robed maidens             pass, And the water into ripples breaks and sparkles as it spreads, Like a host of armored knights with silver helmets on their heads. And I deem the stream an emblem fit of human life may go, For I find a mind may sparkle much and yet but shallows show, And a soul may glow with myriad lights and wondrous mysteries, When it only lies a dormant thing and mirrors what it sees.            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   “By the Stream” was published in Dunbar’s book Lyrics of Lowly Life (Dodd, Mead, and Company 1896).   Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the first African American poets to gain national recognition, was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1872. He published ten collections of poetry and many short stories and novels, before his death in 1906. Poetry by Dunbar   The Collected Poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar (University of Virginia Press, 1993) "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by W. B. Yeats "To Earthward" by Robert Frost "Man in Stream" by Rosanna Warren Read This Poem   For National Poetry Month, we’ve teamed up with 826 National to produce Read This Poem, a celebration of poets in cities with 826 chapters. Read this week’s featured poems by poets from Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038