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1872–1906

REPONSE

Paul Laurence Dunbar

When Phyllis sighs and from her eyes The light dies out; my soul replies With misery of deep-drawn breath, E'en as it were at war with death.

When Phyllis smiles, her glance beguiles My heart through love-lit woodland aisles, And through the silence high and clear, A wooing warbler's song I hear.

But if she frown, despair comes down, I put me on my sack-cloth gown; So frown not, Phyllis, lest I die, But look on me with smile or sigh.

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REPONSE · Paul Laurence Dunbar · Poetry Cove