Paul Laurence Dunbar: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Remembered

Paul Laurence Dunbar

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

Paul Laurence Dunbar: Collected Lyrics Text 82 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

mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr">My Little March GirlThe Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbarby Paul Laurence DunbarRememberedLove Despoiled→

REMEMBERED

She sang, and I listened the whole song thro'.

(It was sweet, so sweet, the singing.)

The stars were out and the moon it grew

From a wee soft glimmer way out in the blue

To a bird thro' the heavens winging.

She sang, and the song trembled down to my breast,—

(It was sweet, so sweet the singing.)

As a dove just out of its fledgling nest,

And, putting its wings to the first sweet test,

Flutters homeward so wearily winging.

She sang and I said to my heart "That song,

That was sweet, so sweet i' the singing,

Shall live with us and inspire us long,

And thou, my heart, shalt be brave and strong

For the sake of those words a-winging."

The woman died and the song was still.

(It was sweet, so sweet, the singing.)

But ever I hear the same low trill,

Of the song that shakes my heart with a thrill,

And goes forever winging.

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), “Remembered”

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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