18 pages • 36 minutes read
Frederick Douglass
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Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
"An Ante-Bellum Sermon" by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1895)
This poem was published alongside “Frederick Douglass” in Dunbar’s Majors and Minors poetry collection, which included poems written in standard American English verse and dialect. It similarly engages with many of the same issues of freedom and slavery, but in a notably different register and context.
"Frederick Douglass" by Robert Hayden (1966)
Hayden’s poem for Frederic Douglass was written as the civil rights movement hit its most crucial turning point in the United States in the 1960s. It recalls the living legacy of Douglass on the Black community more than 70 years after his death, commemorating his profound impact on the movement for freedom and equality.
"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d" by Walt Whitman (1865)
Written in free verse, Walt Whitman’s long elegy for Abraham Lincoln provides another example of this genre from the second half of the 19th century, which similarly commemorates the death and legacy of an important figure in American history.
Further Literary Resources
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight (2018)
To learn more about the subject of the poem, this Pulitzer Prize winning biography provides a comprehensive chronicle of Douglass’s career and influence as an orator, abolitionist, and diplomat, giving a full picture of a complex man fighting for change at the crossroads of history.
The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass (1881)
His most complete autobiography, Frederick Douglass tells his own story in this volume published in 1881 (and revised in 1892), including his life before and after the Civil War, his experience as an enslaved person, and his consultations with multiple American presidents.
Majors and Minors by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1895)
“Frederick Douglass” was originally published in Dunbar’s Majors and Minors poetry collection, which included poetry in standard American English and Black dialect side-by-side. Many of these poems engage with social issues facing the African American community while also focusing on the community’s achievements, the beauty of nature, and messages of hope.
The Collected Poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar edited by Joanne M. Braxton (1993)
Offering a comprehensive look at Dunbar’s poetry, The Collected Poetry provides a substantial introduction to the range of Dunbar’s work, and seeks to rehabilitate Dunbar to his place as the “father of Black American poetry.”
Listen to Poem
Rick Kishner reads Paul Laurence Dunbar’s 1913 poem “Frederick Douglass” for the Lit2Go project at the University of South Florida.
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By Paul Laurence Dunbar
