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W. E. Dancer

W. E. Dancer, composer of dialect and lyric poetry, was a native of Alabama, but resided in Jacksonville from 1919 until his death in 1934. His writings had already made their appearance before he finished his education at Tuskeegee. In 1906 he published , a book of lyrics and dialect poetry. In 1915 his second published work, , was issued at Montgomery. Both volumes drew favorable comment from critics all over the country. , written in Jacksonville and published by the Sentinel Publishing Co. in 1925, was largely in dialect, and followed closely the form made so popular by Paul Lawrence Dunbar in his serio-comic presentation of typical Negro situation. Many of the poems in the volume are based on observations Dancer made during his extensive travels through Florida and the southeast. One, a long and highly amusing poem written at Gainesville during a brief stay there, related humorously a very serious problem he had encountered while in attendance at a convention: bedbugs. Others were written in a more serious vein, and pathos and suffering are not missing. Dancer died at the age of 50, but not before he had seen the fulfillment of a dream he had had for years: the publication of his three books in one volume. It is obtainable in the local library.