Parted (by Paul Laurence Dunbar)

Paul Laurence Dunbar, 1872-1906
(Dayton, Ohio)
Parted
[from Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow, 1901]
With a prime deceit to pin it;
And I thought I was gaining a fearsome prize,
So I staked my soul to win it.
We wed and parted on her complaint,
And both were a bit of a barter,
Tho' I'll confess that I'm no saint,
I'll swear that she's no martyr.





Ah... this one has some bite to it.. Like it!
I could imagine writing something like this... :-)
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Indeed! Thanks for your comment, Chris.
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A lot of 'tude for a black poet in those days. It must have been jarring to think of a black man being reflective and even bitter about a relationship.
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So true! Often I find myself half forgetting the poet's context if I relate strongly to a poem in my own. Thanks for helping provide a contextual/focal balance.
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