Longing

If you could sit with me besides the sea to-day

And whisper with me sweetest dreaming o’er and o’er;

I think I should not find the clouds so dim and gray,

And not so loud the waves complaining at the shore.

If you could sit with me upon the shore to-day,

And hold my hand in yours as in the days of old,

I think I should not mind the chill baptismal sprays,

Nor find my hand and heart and all the world so cold.

If you could walk with me upon the strand to-day,

And tell me that my longing love had won your own,

I think all my sad thoughts would then be put away,

And I could give back laughter for the Ocean’s moan!

“Longing” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, in this poem Dunbar emphasizes the speaker needs of a companion to make his life worthy. His abilities with repetition and imagery are his tools to make the poem reach its purposes to its audience. First, he uses repetition at the beginning in each stanza “If you could sit with me besides the sea to-day…” (Line 1) “If you could sit with me upon the shore to-day…” (Line 4) and “If you could walk with me upon the strand to-day…” (Line 8)

    Another tool that Dunbar uses is imagery. Using imagery in this poem is crucial since it explain why the speaker is yearning for something that seems impossible for him to get at the moment.  As the speaker says, “if you could walk with me upon the stand to-day/and tell me that my longing love had won your own, / I think all my sad thoughts would then be put away, /And I could give back laughter for the Ocean’s moan!.” (Line 9-12) he is trying to say that he is somehow tired of the odds of life, and now he needs her to stand by his side.