Poem of the Month: Invitation to Love by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Come when the nights are bright with stars
    Or come when the moon is mellow;
Come when the sun his golden bars
    Drops on the hay-field yellow
Come in the twilight soft and gray,
Come in the night or come in the day,
Come, O love, whene’er you may,
    And you are welcome, welcome.

You are sweet, O Love, dear Love,
You are soft as the nesting dove.
Come to my heart and bring it to rest
As the bird flies home to its welcome nest.

Come when my heart is full of grief
    Or when my heart is merry;
Come with the falling of the leaf
    Or with the redd’ning cherry.
Come when the year’s first blossom blows,
Come when the summer gleams and glows,
Come with the winter’s drifting snows,
    And you are welcome, welcome.

 

“Invitation to Love” appears in The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, published in 1935.

1 Comment


  1. I love Paul Laurence Dunbar, and so few people seem to know his work now. In junior high and high school I memorized and performed several of his poems, both comic and tender ones. Thanks for choosing this.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Kathleen Worley Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *