The Poet and His Song

Composed by Florence Price
"The Poet and His Song" is a song by Florence Price on the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar. Within the mostly simple choral accompaniment, Price employs chromaticism judiciously to underscore Dunbar's depictions of dreams, rebellion, and pain. Price omits the second stanza of Dunbar's poetry in this setting.

Audio Track

The Poet and His Song
Minnita Daniel Cox, soprano and Rosalyn Wright Floyd, piano3:31

Florence Price

Composer

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Poet(s)/Writer(s)

2022

Date

University of California, Irvine, Winifred Smith Hall

Location

This recording was part of a 8pm concert ("My Sister’s Keeper") on Friday, October 14, 2022 during the 25th Anniversary African American Art Song Alliance Conference. The concert venue was Winifred Smith Hall at the University of California, Irvine.

Text

The Poet and His Song

A song is but a little thing,
And yet what joy it is to sing!
In hours of toil it gives me zest,
And when at eve I long for rest;
When cows come home along the bars,
And in the fold I hear the bell,
As Night, the shepherd, herds his stars,
I sing my song, and all is well.

There are no ears to hear my lays,
No lips to lift a word of praise;
But still, with faith unfaltering,
I live and laugh and love and sing.
What matters yon unheeding throng?
They cannot feel my spirit’s spell,
Since life is sweet and love is long,
I sing my song, and all is well.

My days are never days of ease;
I till my ground and prune my trees.
When ripened gold is all the plain,
I put my sickle to the grain.
I labor hard, and toil and sweat,
While others dream within the dell;
But even while my brow is wet,
I sing my song, and all is well.

Sometimes the sun, unkindly hot,
My garden makes a desert spot;
Sometimes a blight upon the tree
Takes all my fruit away from me;
And then with throes of bitter pain
Rebellious passions rise and swell;
But—life is more than fruit or grain,
And so I sing, and all is well.

Related Information

African Diaspora Music Project

africandiasporamusicproject.org/items/show/3627

Sheet Music

Florence Price: 44 Art Songs and Spirituals

Florence Price
A White Rose (John Boyle O'Reilly)
An April Day (Joseph Cotter)
Because (Paul Laurence Dunbar)
Beside the Sea (Paul Laurence Dunbar)
Bewilderment (Langston Hughes)
Dawn's Awakening (James Joseph Burke)
Death's Gwineter Lay His Cold Icy Hand on Me (Spiritual)
Feet o' Jesus (Langston Hughes)
Four Encore Songs: Tobacco (Graham Lee Hemminger); A Flea and a Fly (Ogden Nash); "Come, come," said Tom's Father (Thomas Moore); Song of the Open Road (Ogden Nash)
Go Down, Moses (Spiritual)
God Gives Me You (Nora Connelly)
Hold Fast to Dreams (Langston Hughes)
I Grew a Rose (Paul Laurence Dunbar)
I'm Goin' to Lay Down My Heavy Load (Spiritual)
Love-in-a-mist (Mary Rolofson Gamble)
My Little Soul's Goin' to Shine (Spiritual)
My Neighbor (Paul Laurence Dunbar)
My Soul's Been Anchored in de Lord (Spiritual)
Night (Louise C. Wallace)
Out of the South Blew a Wind (Fannie Carter Woods)
Resignation (Florence B. Price)
Rise Mourner (Spiritual)
Save Me Lord, Save Me (Spiritual)
Some o' These Days (Spiritual)
Song to the Dark Virgin (Langston Hughes)
Sunset (Odessa P. Elder)
Sympathy (Paul Laurence Dunbar)
The Glory of the Day Was in Her Face (James Weldon Johnson)
The Moon Bridge (Mary Rolofson Gamble)
The Poet and His Song (Paul Laurence Dunbar)
The Washerwoman (Otto Leland Bohanan)
To My Little Son (Julia Johnson Davis)
Travel's End (Mary Folwell Hoisington)
Trouble Done Come My Way (Florence B. Price)
Two Traditional Negro Spirituals: I am Bound for the Kingdom; I'm Workin' on My Buildin'
We Have Tomorrow (Langston Hughes)
Weary Traveler (Spiritual)
What's the Use (Paul Laurence Dunbar)
Words for a Spiritual ("Capricorn")
You Won't Find a Man Like Jesus (Spiritual)
Medium/High
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