Love Poem

If- Paul Laurence Dunbar

If life were but a dream, my Love,
And death the waking time;
If day had not a beam, my Love,
And night had not a rhyme, --
A barren, barren world were this
Without one saving gleam;
I'd only ask that with a kiss
You'd wake me from the dream.
If dreaming were the sum of days,
And loving were the bane;
If battling for a wreath of bays
Could soothe a heart in pain, --
I'd scorn the meed of battle's might,
All other aims above
I'd choose the human's higher right,
To suffer and to love!

I think this poem is about how love is so wonderful and also how love can make you suffer so much. Dunbar uses metaphors like "If life were but a dream, my Love, And death the waking time;" that are saying that if life was only a dream and when we woke up we died.