Paul Laurence Dunbar: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Spring Song

Paul Laurence Dunbar

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

Paul Laurence Dunbar: Collected Lyrics Text 92 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

A blue-bell springs upon the ledge,

A lark sits singing in the hedge;

Sweet perfumes scent the balmy air,

And life is brimming everywhere.

What lark and breeze and blue-bird sing,

Is Spring, Spring, Spring!

Verse 2

No more the air is sharp and cold;

The planter wends across the wold,

And, glad, beneath the shining sky

We wander forth, my love and I.

And ever in our hearts doth ring

This song of Spring, Spring!

Verse 3

For life is life and love is love,

'Twixt maid and man or dove and dove,

Life may be short, life may be long,

But love will come, and to its song

Shall this refrain for ever cling

Of Spring, Spring, Spring!

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), “Spring 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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