Fiction_L Archives Paul Laurence Dunbar work? Dates: 1/30/02,6:41 PM  through  2/2/02,8:50 AM  (5 postings) Search for: Select one or more indexes to search: 2011-current     2009-2010     2004-2008    1995-2003    (Matches from each index will be displayed separately in the results page.) Return to January 2002 thread menu   |   Fiction_L Archives Menu

FROM: Ellen Pare <[removed]@metronet.lib.mi.us>
REC'D: 1/30/02, 6:41 PM

A patron is looking for a work by Paul Laurence Dunbar entitled "Why the
Bird is Important." The patron believes it was published in 1872, and she
also thinks the work isn't one of his poems, possibly a short story.
I've checked Poem Finder and the Short Story finder module, and searched
the web on author and name of the work, without much success.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

FROM: al po <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 1/30/02, 7:24 PM

i checked the paul laurence dunbar digital archives on
wright state university's web site. there is not
mention of the work in question. paul laurence dunbar
was born in 1872. could it be another poet?
--- Ellen Pare <[removed]@metronet.lib.mi.us> wrote:
> A patron is looking for a work by Paul Laurence
> Dunbar entitled "Why the
> Bird is Important." The patron believes it was
> published in 1872, and she
> also thinks the work isn't one of his poems,
> possibly a short story.
> I've checked Poem Finder and the Short Story finder
> module, and searched
> the web on author and name of the work, without much
> success.
>
> Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
>
>
>
>
>
>
......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L:
http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html


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FROM: Molly Williams <[removed]@adelphia.net>
REC'D: 1/30/02, 8:17 PM

Dunbar did write the poem from which Maya Angelou's autobiography
title was taken (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings). It's called
"Sympathy" -- but there's nothing in it about the _importance_ of
the bird.

This is the poem, in case it's what your patron is thinking of:

Sympathy

I know what the caged bird feels.
Ah me, when the sun is bright on the upland slopes,
when the wind blows soft through the springing grass
and the river floats like a sheet of glass,
when the first bird sings and the first bud ops,
and the faint perfume from its chalice steals.
I know what the caged bird feels.

I know why the caged bird beats his wing
till its blood is red on the cruel bars,
for he must fly back to his perch and cling
when he fain would be on the bow aswing.
And the blood still throbs in the old, old scars
and they pulse again with a keener sting.
I know why he beats his wing.

I know why the caged bird sings.
Ah, me, when its wings are bruised and its bosom sore.
It beats its bars and would be free.
It's not a carol of joy or glee,
but a prayer that it sends from its heart's deep core,
a plea that upward to heaven it flings.
I know why the caged bird sings.

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)

~ Molly Wms.

--
Volunteer, Waterboro Public Library (Maine)
daily library weblog: http://www.waterboro.lib.me.us/blog.htm

>>A patron is looking for a work by Paul Laurence
>>Dunbar entitled "Why the
>>Bird is Important." The patron believes it was
>>published in 1872, and she
>>also thinks the work isn't one of his poems,
>>possibly a short story.
>>I've checked Poem Finder and the Short Story finder
>>module, and searched
>>the web on author and name of the work, without much
>>success.
>>
>>Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
>>

FROM: Dennis Lien <[removed]@tc.umn.edu>
REC'D: 1/31/02, 4:08 PM

At 07:36 PM 1/30/02 -0500, you wrote:
>A patron is looking for a work by Paul Laurence Dunbar entitled "Why the
>Bird is Important." The patron believes it was published in 1872, and she
>also thinks the work isn't one of his poems, possibly a short story.
>I've checked Poem Finder and the Short Story finder module, and searched
>the web on author and name of the work, without much success.
>
>Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I think someone else has already identified what your client is
probably really thinking of, but for the record, I scanned all of
the "non-poetry" entries (short stories, essays, plays, songs) in
the following bibliography of Dunbar's work and found nothing in
those categories with a title anything like this:

Author: Metcalf, E. W.

Title: Paul Laurence Dunbar : a bibliography / by E. W. Metcalf, Jr.

Published: Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press, 1975.

Description: ix, 193 p. ; 22 cm.

Subjects, Library of Congress (Use s=):
Dunbar, Paul Laurence, 1872-1906--Bibliography.


Dennis Lien / U of Minnesota Libraries // [removed]@tc.umn.edu

FROM: "Ellen Pare" <[removed]@metronet.lib.mi.us>
REC'D: 2/2/02, 8:50 AM

Thanks to those who replied. The date of the work was incorrect, as pointed
out. Having lurked for awhile, I thought perhaps Dennis Lien would come
through with something useful, and you didn't disappoint. I'll pass the info
along to the patron.

-----Original Message-----
From: [removed]@maillist.webrary.org
[[removed]@maillist.webrary.org]On Behalf Of Dennis Lien
Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2002 5:02 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: Re: Paul Laurence Dunbar work?


At 07:36 PM 1/30/02 -0500, you wrote:
>A patron is looking for a work by Paul Laurence Dunbar entitled "Why the
>Bird is Important." The patron believes it was published in 1872, and she
>also thinks the work isn't one of his poems, possibly a short story.
>I've checked Poem Finder and the Short Story finder module, and searched
>the web on author and name of the work, without much success.
>
>Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I think someone else has already identified what your client is
probably really thinking of, but for the record, I scanned all of
the "non-poetry" entries (short stories, essays, plays, songs) in
the following bibliography of Dunbar's work and found nothing in
those categories with a title anything like this:

Author: Metcalf, E. W.

Title: Paul Laurence Dunbar : a bibliography / by E. W. Metcalf,
Jr.

Published: Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press, 1975.

Description: ix, 193 p. ; 22 cm.

Subjects, Library of Congress (Use s=):
Dunbar, Paul Laurence, 1872-1906--Bibliography.


Dennis Lien / U of Minnesota Libraries // [removed]@tc.umn.edu

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