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1872–1906

A SUMMER'S NIGHT

Paul Laurence Dunbar

The night is dewy as a maiden's mouth, The skies are bright as are a maiden's eyes, Soft as a maiden's breath the wind that flies Up from the perfumed bosom of the South.

Like sentinels, the pines stand in the park; And hither hastening, like rakes that roam, With lamps to light their wayward footsteps home, The fireflies come stagg'ring down the dark.

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A SUMMER'S NIGHT · Paul Laurence Dunbar · Poetry Cove