Paul Laurence Dunbar: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

A Death Song

Paul Laurence Dunbar

“A Death Song” as printed in The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar (1913).

Paul Laurence Dunbar: Collected Lyrics Text 6 1913 · historical text
Public domainSong lyricsDialect song
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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On the RoadThe Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbarby Paul Laurence DunbarA Death SongA Back-Log Song→sister projects: Wikidata item

Lay me down beneaf de willers in de grass,

Whah de branch 'll go a-singin' as it pass.

An' w'en I's a-layin' low,

I kin hyeah it as it go

Singin', "Sleep, my honey, tek yo' res' at las'."

Lay me nigh to whah hit meks a little pool,

An' de watah stan's so quiet lak an' cool,

Whah de little birds in spring,

Ust to come an' drink an' sing,

An' de chillen waded on dey way to school.

Let me settle w'en my shouldahs draps dey load

Nigh enough to hyeah de noises in de road;

Fu' I t'ink de las' long res'

Gwine to soothe my sperrit bes'

Ef I's layin' 'mong de t'ings I's allus knowed.

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 Death 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

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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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