Inspiration

Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906



At the golden gate of song
Stood I, knocking all day long,
But the Angel, calm and cold,
Still refused and bade me, 'Hold.'

Then a breath of soft perfume,
Then a light within the gloom;
Thou, Love, camest to my side,
And the gates flew open wide.

Long I dwelt in this domain,
Knew no sorrow, grief, or pain;
Now you bid me forth and free,
Will you shut these gates on me?

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 10, 2023

22 sec read
130

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABB CCDD EEFF
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 368
Words 77
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar was a seminal American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 Lyrics of a Lowly Life one poem in the collection being Ode to Ethiopia more…

All Paul Laurence Dunbar poems | Paul Laurence Dunbar Books

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