Frank Lebby Stanton

author

Frank Lebby Stanton

1857–1927

A popular Southern poet and newspaper voice, he turned everyday speech, humor, and sentiment into verse that reached a wide audience. His best-known work includes the poem that inspired the song "Mighty Lak' a Rose," and he was named Georgia's first poet laureate in 1925.

1 Audiobook

You'll git dar in de mornin'

You'll git dar in de mornin'

by H. T. (Harry Thacker) Burleigh, Frank Lebby Stanton

About the author

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1857, Frank Lebby Stanton went into printing and newspaper work while still young, later building a long career in Georgia journalism. He became closely associated with The Atlanta Constitution, where his columns and poems made him a familiar literary voice to readers across the South.

Stanton wrote lyric poems, dialect verse, songs, and newspaper pieces that often mixed warmth, wit, and homespun optimism. His work appeared in books such as Songs of the Soil and Up from Georgia, and his poem "Mighty Lak' a Rose" became especially well known after it was set to music.

In 1925, he was appointed the first poet laureate of Georgia, an honor he held until his death in Atlanta in 1927. Remembered as both a journalist and a poet, he left behind a body of work rooted in regional life but written to connect with ordinary readers.