Paul Laurence Dunbar: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

The Looking-Glass

Paul Laurence Dunbar

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

Paul Laurence Dunbar: Collected Lyrics Text 109 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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Black Samson Of BrandywineThe Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbarby Paul Laurence DunbarThe Looking-GlassA Misty Day→sister projects: Wikidata item

THE LOOKING-GLASS

Verse 2

Dinah stan' befo' de glass,

Lookin' moughty neat,

An' huh purty shadder sass

At huh haid an' feet.

While she sasshay 'roun' an' bow,

Smilin' den an' poutin' now,

An' de lookin'-glass, I 'low,

Say: "Now, ain't she sweet?"

All she do, de glass it see,

Hit des see, no mo',

Seems to me, hit ought to be

Drappin' on de flo'.

She go w'en huh time git slack,

Kissin' han's an' smilin' back,

Lawsy, how my lips go smack,

Watchin' at de do'.

Wisht I was huh lookin'-glass,

Wen she kissed huh han';

Does you t'ink I 'd let it pass,

Settin' on de stan'?

No; I'd des' fall down an' break,

Kin' o' glad 't uz fu' huh sake;

But de diffunce, dat whut make

Lookin'-glass an' man.

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), “The Looking-Glass”

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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