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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TO ALICE DUNBAR by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR

First Line: ALL THE WORLD IS SO SWEET, DEAR
Last Line: FAR PAST THE PORTALS OF DEATH.

All the world is so sweet, dear
And matters so little to me --
You are the whole and the all, dear
The bride for eternity --

Life is so gray and so brief dear
And it is so hard to live
Why should we neighbor with grief, dear
Better to love and forgive.

E'en tho' I miss you today, dear
Miss you and pass like a breath --
Love is puissant in serving dear
Far past the portals of death.



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