Paul L. Dunbar was a famous american poet who was african american.He was born on June 27,1872 in Dayton, Ohio. So he lived segregated in the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s. Finally, he died on February 9, 1906. His life affected his poetry alot.LifePaul Laurence Dunbar had many ups and downs in his life. Paul was born on June 27,1872 in Dayton, Ohio. Paul was the first one in his family so far never to be a slave which is cray considering the time he was born in. Paul didn't have one of his parents his whole life because his parents got a divorce a short time after his birth. His mom took him and moved and later, his mom had a daughter that died at the age of 2. He grew up and published his first poem at the age of 14. Paul was the only black kid in his high school class so he was bullied and got racial discrimination. …show more content…
Paul got married to Alice Nelson put only a couple of years after that he got a divorce with his wife. He finally died on February 9, 1906 at the age 33.Themes“That gave me the roses of life, And gave me the roses of love, He gave me the roses of death, My neighbor lives on the hill,And I in the valley dwell,” Paul Laurence Dunbar seems to have a reoccuring theme of death, love, and inequality. The theme of differences is inequality. This is because in the poem it says,” My neighbor lives on the hill, And I in the valley dwell,” which shows that his neighbor is higher in superiority so he must look down on him which is what most white people did to him during his life. “My love goes surging like a river,” shows his love for someone. This affects the themes of his poems because he wants to show his affection of love for someone during his life. The last theme is death. This connects to his life because when his little sister was 2 she died which is why some of his theme are about