Question

Read these stanzas from Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poems.

"The Poet and His Song"

"An Easy-Goin’ Feller"

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.

Ther' ain't no use in all this strife,
An' hurryin', pell-mell, right thro' life.
I don't believe in goin' too fast
To see what kind o' road you've passed.
It ain't no mortal kind o' good,
'N' I would n't hurry ef I could.
I like to jest go joggin' 'long,
To limber up my soul with song.

How are the messages of these two poems similar?

Both poems suggest that music offers contentment in life.
Both poems indicate that people should travel for enjoyment.
Both poems prove that work should be a top priority.
Both poems insist that friends need to celebrate together.

Answer 1

The messages of these two poems are similar as both poems suggest that music offers contentment in life.

Answer: Option A

Explanation:

Just like how John Keats calls a thing of beauty to be a joy forever, music is something which provides a lot of happiness for the poet. Here, in the first poem, he feels happy to sing a song when he is with his cattle. In the second one, he likes to hype up his soul using a song. In this way, concluding that the poet explains the significance of music and how it has influenced him in both the poems.