Paul Laurence Dunbar: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

A Boy's Summer Song

Paul Laurence Dunbar

“A Boy's Summer Song” as printed in The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar (1913).

Paul Laurence Dunbar: Collected Lyrics Text 2 1913 · historical text
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Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

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Night, Dim NightThe Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbarby Paul Laurence DunbarA Boys' Summer SongThe Sand-Man→sister projects: Wikidata item

A BOY'S SUMMER SONG

Verse 2

'Tis fine to play

In the fragrant hay,

And romp on the golden load;

To ride old Jack

To the barn and back,

Or tramp by a shady road.

To pause and drink,

At a mossy brink;

Ah, that is the best of joy,

And so I say

On a summer's day,

What's so fine as being a boy?

Ha, Ha!

With line and hook

By a babbling brook,

The fisherman's sport we ply;

And list the song

Of the feathered throng

That flit in the branches nigh.

At last we strip

For a quiet dip;

Ah, that is the best of joy.

For this I say

On a summer's day,

What's so fine as being a boy?

Ha, Ha!

Credits

Written by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Words by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Historical text published in The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar (1913); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar (1913), “A Boy's Summer Song”

Every text in this collected edition is by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906); his works entered the public domain in life-plus-70 jurisdictions in 1977, and the 1913 edition is in the public domain in the United States. The edition carries a Wikisource PD-old determination.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-27. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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