THE PARADOX
by: Paul Laurence Dunbar
(1872-1906)
- AM the mother of sorrows,
- I am the ender of grief;
- I am the bud and the blossom,
- I am the late-falling leaf.
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- I am thy priest and thy poet,
- I am thy serf and thy king;
- I cure the tears of the heartsick,
- When I come near they shall sing.
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- White are my hands as the snowdrop;
- Swart are my fingers as clay;
- Dark is my frown as the midnight,
- Fair is my brow as the day.
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- Battle and war are my minions,
- Doing my will as divine;
- I am the calmer of passions,
- Peace is a nursling of mine.
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- Speak to me gently or curse me,
- Seek me or fly from my sight;
- I am thy fool in the morning,
- Thou art my slave in the night.
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- Down to the grave will I take thee,
- Out from the noise of the strife;
- Then shalt thou see me and know me--
- Death, then, no longer, but life.
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- Then shalt thou sing at my coming,
- Kiss me with passionate breath,
- Clasp me and smile to have thought me
- Aught save the foeman of Death.
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- Come to me, brother, when weary,
- Come when thy lonely heart swells;
- I'll guide thy footsteps and lead thee
- Down where the Dream Woman dwells.
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