The Dialect In 'A Back-Log Song' By Paul Dunbar

The separation of African American dialect, written by Paul Dunbar, created a common language for the black community and a message to decode for the white community. Paul Dunbar comprised about half of his poems using dialect of his ethnicity, which resembled a strength of his. “The Old-Front Gate” began with “wh’n daih’s chillun in de house/dey keep on a-gettin’ tall” (1-2). A first time reader would find the language extremely confusing based upon the choppy grammar; however, to an African American it would indicate a sense of comfort. “A Back-Log Song” expressed “den dey tuk hit to de big house an’ dey piled de wood erroun’/in de fiah-place f’om ash-flo’ to de flue” (5-6). Each word added mirrored a puzzle piece that fit exactly in one precise location which also served as the case with the language.
“Gwine to soothe my sperrit bes’/ef I’s layin’ ‘mong de t’ings I’s allus knowed” (“A Death Song” 14-15) provided as a great example.”Previous to Paul Laurence Dunbar’s publications of dialect poetry, very little attention had been given to the poetic treatment of the life and speech of the plantation Negro” (Burch). Blacks comprehend what another had said and knew the correct response due to the knowledge of the language. From “A Plantation Portrait” Dunbar wrote “hol’s you wid a natchful twis’/close to bliss” (31-32). A viewpoint from a slave master came across as ebonics, but to a slave it favored a secret dialect only known with other