W. E.W.E. Dancer
W. E.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 TuskeegeeTuskegee. In 1906, he published
Today and Yesterday, a book of lyrics and
dialect poetry. In 1915
, his second published work,
Fact, Fun, and Fiction,
was issued at Montgomery. Both volumes drew favorable comment from critics
all over the country.
Sunshine and Shadow,
See [Sunshine and Shadows.](common-annotations.xml#sunshineAndShadows)
written in
Jacksonville and published by the Senti
—
nel
Publishing
Co.Company 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 situations. Many of the poems in the volume are based on
observations
Dancer made during his extensive travels through
Florida and the
southeastSoutheast. 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 50fifty, 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.