This collection of poems attempts to recreate a vanishing part of Black American spiritual culture - the inspirational sermons of old-time Negro preachers. Using punctuation and line arrangements he captures the fervour of the congregation and underlines the importance of these sermons in the development of Black culture. James Wheldon Johnson is the author of "Along this Way" and "The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man".
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This collection of poems attempts to recreate a vanishing part of Black American spiritual culture - the inspirational sermons of old-time Negro preachers. Using punctuation and line arrangements he captures the fervour of the congregation and underlines the importance of these sermons in the development of Black culture. James Wheldon Johnson is the author of "Along this Way" and "The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man".
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Add this copy of God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse (Penguin to cart. $9.15, good condition, Sold by Poquette's Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dewitt, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1990 by Penguin Classics.
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James Weldon Johnson (1871 -- 1938) is best-known as the author of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the "Negro National Anthem" written in 1900 for Lincoln's birthday. Johnson had extraordinary gifts as a poet. His celebration of the African-American preacher in God's Trombones, published in 1927, is a masterpiece of American poetry.
Johnson was inspired to write "God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse " after hearing a stirring African-American preacher in Kansas City in 1918. Johnson wrote seven free-verse poems on biblical themes to capture the rhythm, content, language and religious commitment of the African-American preacher. Johnson also wrote a celebrated prose introduction to the book in which he described the place of the preacher in African-American life and explained his decision not to use dialect in writing the poems. Johnson also explained why he used the trombone as the guiding figure of his poem. Johnson wrote of his experience with the Kansas City preacher:
"He strode the pulpit up and down in what was actually a very rhythmic voice, a voice -- what shall I say? -- not of an organ or a trumpet, but rather of a trombone, the instrument possessing above all others the power to express the wide and varied range of emotions encompassed by the human voice -- and with greater amplitude. He intoned, he moaned, he pleaded, -- he blared, he crashed, he thundered. ... [T]he emotional effect upon me was irresistible."
The poetry opens with a short preliminary call to prayer, "Listen, Lord" followed by the seven sermons. The sermons open with the preacher's account of "The Creation"; and they conclude with a sermon on the end of days, "The Judgment Day". Four of the remaining poems deal with Biblical subjects, "The Prodigal Son", "Noah Built the Ark", "The Crucifixion", and "Let my People Go", the story of the Exodus from Egypt. The remaining sermon "Go down death -- a Funeral Sermon" is a meditation on the death of an elderly woman in Georgia who, in the preacher's language, is carried by Death to the throne of Jesus. The poems are in free verse, move in an elevated and lively style, include vivid imagery, and a sense of rhythmic speech and propulsion. It is useful to read them aloud. The poems make use effective use of repetition. Look at "The Crucifixion", for example, and see the many different adjectives Johnson applies to the figure of Jesus. The opening lines of the first three stanzas alone refer to "my gentle Jesus", "my burdened Jesus" and "my sorrowing Jesus". Each of the poems conclude with a short and effective exhortation to the listener. Thus, in the final words of the final poem, "The Judgment Day":
"Sinner, oh sinner,
Where will you stand,
In that great day when God's a-going to rain down fire?"
These poems are short and the book can be read quickly. But they will have a long-lived impact on the reader. This book would make an excellent introduction to poetry for young people. And Johnson has given a lasting and eloquent treatment to the art and spirit of the African-American preacher.
Robin Friedman
nwlady1947
Oct 24, 2013
Awesome lessons from the 1920's
I first heard about James Weldon Johnson's sermons in verse on BBN Radio program by Chuck Swindoll. I searched Alibris for the sermons and sure enough, found a book with all seven lessons. Chuck Swindoll referred to a vinyl record where he heard the sermons.
Alibris is an awesome for old Christian literature.
