'Sympathy' poem   Save
Ohio History Connection Archives/Library
Description: Maya Angelou took the title of her novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings from Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem "Sympathy," included here. "Sympathy" first appeared in Dunbar's book Lyrics of the Hearthside, published in 1899. The book is 227 pages long and measures 9 by 7 inches (22.86 by 17.78 cm). Dunbar (1872-1906) is acknowledged as the first significant African American poet in the United States. He was born Dayton, Ohio to parents who had been slaves. After high school, the Wright brothers (Orville and Wilbur) assisted Dunbar in publishing the Dayton Tattler, an African-American newspaper. His first book of poetry, Oak and Ivy, was published in 1893. It was followed by Lyrics of a Lowly Life, and Majors and Minors, ten other books of poetry, four books of short stories, five novels and a play. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1504_1499018_001
Subjects: Literary Ohio; Poetry; Dunbar, Paul Laurence, 1872-1906
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)