1. By: Paul Laurence Dunbar
Sunset
By: Paul Laurence Dunbar

2. Sunset The river sleeps beneath the sky,
And clasps the shadows to its breast;
The crescent moon shines dim on high;
And in the lately radiant west
The gold is fading into gray.
Now stills the lark his festive lay,
And mourns with me the dying day.
While in the south the first faint star
Lifts to the night its silver face,
And twinkles to the moon afar
Across the heaven's graying space,
Low murmurs reach me from the town,
As Day puts on her sombre crown,
And shakes her mantle darkly down.

3. Sunset Lyric Poetry - the most common type of poetry.
Sonnet - a poem written in fourteen lines, iambic pentameter on a single theme or idea. A sonnet has a definite rhythm pattern and rhyme scheme.

4. Sunset The river sleeps beneath the sky,
anapest (~~/ )
iamb ( ~/)
spondee (//)
dactyl ( /~~)
trochee ( /~ )
The river sleeps beneath the sky,
And clasps the shadows to its breast;
The crescent moon shines dim on high;
And in the lately radiant west
The gold is fading into gray.

5. Sunset
Throughout the poem the poem the author refers to the sunset and it’s beauty. The theme is how the Sunset is the Day’s last chance to show it’s beauty until it goes into the dark night.

6. What SYMBOLISM is used in the poem?
Sunset
What SYMBOLISM is used in the poem?
Metaphors:
Now stills the lark his festive lay,
And mourns with me the dying day.
As Day puts on her sombre crown,
And shakes her mantle darkly down.

7. Sunset
Imagery is used throughout the poem to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. The author gives inanimate objects human qualities.
Example:
The crescent moon shines dim on high;
And in the lately radiant west
The gold is fading into gray.

8. Sunset
The poem is talking about the way the sunset looks and feels to the person that is writing it. It relates to the poem because the title is called “Sunset”, which is being described.

9. Sunset
The poet is trying to form an image of the sunset in the readers mind. The poet uses strong imagery to allow the reader to feel like they are laying beside a slow moving river on a warm summer day watching the sun go down and night take over. At the end of the poem, the author talks about night taking over and day “taking off her crown”. This is symbolism that day does not like going into night.

10. About the Poet 1872-1906 One of the first major African American Poets
Wrote his first poem at age 6
Work is known for its colorful language, conversational tone, and brilliant rhetorical structure

11. My Inspiration By
Pam McMahan

12. My Inspiration Always there to lend a helping hand,
She is right by me when I stand.
Unselfish, Giving, Understanding, & Patient,
Guided me through tough times when I was an adolescent.
She’ll always be there for whatever’s around the bend,
She’s my mother, my best friend.

13. Presented by: Pam McMahan
Date: September 26, Class: ECE 3602
Sources: