Reading, Summary, and Analysis of Dunbar's "The Haunted Oak"
Paul Laurence Dunbar had the courage and skill to write about what few at the time, and even today, wanted to acknowledge. The result is a poem about one of America's most poignant ghosts.
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Pray why are you so bare, so bare,
Oh, bough of the old oak-tree;
And why, when I go through the shade you throw,
Runs a shudder over me?
My leaves were green as the best, I trow,
And sap ran free in my veins,
But I saw in the moonlight dim and weird
A guiltless victim's pains.
I bent me down to hear his sigh;
I shook with his gurgling moan,
And I trembled sore when they rode away,
And left him here alone.
They'd charged him with the old, old crime,
And set him fast in jail:
Oh, why does the dog howl all night long,
And why does the night wind wail?
He prayed his prayer and he swore his oath,
And he raised his hand to the sky;
But the beat of hoofs smote on his ear,
And the steady tread drew nigh.
Who is it rides by night, by night,
Over the moonlit road?
And what is the spur that keeps the pace,
What is the galling goad?
And now they beat at the prison door,
"Ho, keeper, do not stay!
We are friends of him whom you hold within,
And we fain would take him away
"From those who ride fast on our heels
With mind to do him wrong;
They have no care for his innocence,
And the rope they bear is long."
They have fooled the jailer with lying words,
They have fooled the man with lies;
The bolts unbar, the locks are drawn,
And the great door open flies.
Now they have taken him from the jail,
And hard and fast they ride,
And the leader laughs low down in his throat,
As they halt my trunk beside.
Oh, the judge, he wore a mask of black,
And the doctor one of white,
And the minister, with his oldest son,
Was curiously bedight.
Oh, foolish man, why weep you now?
'Tis but a little space,
And the time will come when these shall dread
The mem'ry of your face.
I feel the rope against my bark,
And the weight of him in my grain,
I feel in the throe of his final woe
The touch of my own last pain.
And never more shall leaves come forth
On the bough that bears the ban;
I am burned with dread, I am dried and dead,
From the curse of a guiltless man.
And ever the judge rides by, rides by,
And goes to hunt the deer,
And ever another rides his soul
In the guise of a mortal fear.
And ever the man he rides me hard,
And never a night stays he;
For I feel his curse as a haunted bough,
On the trunk of a haunted tree.
- 1900
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Paul Laurence Dunbar ( 1872-1906) he was American poet , novelist, short story writer of late 19 th and early 20 th centuries. Born in Dayton , Ohio to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before American civi war. He began writing stories and verse when he was child . He published his first poem at of 6 in Dayton newspaper and served as president of his school literary society. He penned 400 poems during career that spanned just 31 years . He travelled around world, even meeting queen of England, wrote prolifically. He wrote first poem at age 6 Easter ode , six years later he received that poem to congregation church in Dayton. His first known public reading, lack of work and growing problem with alcoholism led to divorce of his parents, he was inspired by his mother . His genre of writing is fiction, lyrical, drama , poetry for theatrical musical . Iam so sorry to be little long but reading and writing both are great ways to improve our English as non native speakers. Best wishes for you your dearest ones .
How are you doing sir thank you for wonderful cultural literary channel. I just found out February is considered as black history month , when African Americans celebrate birth day of president Abraham Lincoln who end slavery by civil American war on 12 of February and former slave , social reformer, writer Frederick Douglass. I learned there are only African American who won Nobel prize in literature is Toni Morrison and won too presidential medal of freedom. Martian luther king who was leader of civil rights movement and won Nobel prize presidential of freedom, congressional gold medal. I gathered main theme of poem and poet biography briefly here it’s haunted oak written and published in 1900 . Could have been based on one of 105 lynchings that occurred that year, but it was inspired in Washington. Dc by story that Dunbar heard old black man relate concerning his nephew in Alabama who had been hanged on oak tree by mob of whites . Tone of the poem is feeling create through author choice of words.
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Hello, I'm good. Thank you so much for checking out the video. This is a really hard topic for Americans to talk about. Our country has a long history of evil and hatred and a long way to go still. But reading the works of authors like Dunbar is a small step in the right direction toward remembrance of the past and resolution to do better today.