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Sympathy (an excerpt)
Paul Laurence Dunbar![A horizontal poster with a colorful mosaic at the top features an excerpt from the poem, Sympathy, by Paul Laurence Dunbar. To the left of the poem is a pink interlinking rope.](https://poetrysociety.org/assets/poetry-in-motion/Paul-Laurence-Dunbar-NYC-Poetry-in-Motion.jpeg)
Sympathy (an excerpt)
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—
When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings—
I know why the caged bird sings!
From The Collected Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, edited by Joanne M. Braxton. Published by University of Virginia Press.
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