African American Poetry: A Digital Anthology

Sonnet

The sonnet was an important poetic form used by many Black writers during this period, including writers from the older generation (i.e., James Weldon Johnson, Carrie Williams Clifford) as well as younger writers like Claude McKay. 

As of January 2022, we have identified and tagged about 30 poems in the anthology as sonnets. There are likely many more in the collection yet to be tagged. -AS 

Contents of this tag:

  1. A Sonnet in Memory of John Brown by Georgia Douglas Johnson
  2. Poems by Leslie Pinckney Hill in "The Book of American Negro Poetry" (1922)
  3. Carrie Williams Clifford, "The New Year" (1920)
  4. A Sonnet to the Mantled by Georgia Douglas Johnson (1917/1922)
  5. William Stanley Braithwaite, "The Negro in American Literature" (1925)
  6. Dawn in New York by Claude McKay
  7. The Negro Singer by James D. Corrothers
  8. Wild May by Claude McKay
  9. Outcast by Claude McKay
  10. The White City by Claude McKay
  11. The Gift by Carrie Williams Clifford
  12. Yet Do I Marvel by Countee Cullen
  13. In Bondage by Claude McKay
  14. Lincoln by Carrie Williams Clifford
  15. Brown Boy to Brown Girl (Remembrance on a hill) (For Yolanda) by Countee Cullen
  16. Enslaved by Claude McKay
  17. The Dance of Love (After reading René Maran's "Batouala") by Countee Cullen
  18. I Shall Return by Claude McKay
  19. Race-Hate by Carrie Williams Clifford
  20. Oh, for a Little While Be Kind (For Ruth Marie) by Countee Cullen
  21. Africa by Claude McKay
  22. To My Friends by Countee Cullen
  23. On a Primitive Canoe by Claude McKay
  24. Poems by Claude McKay in "The Book of American Negro Poetry" (1922)
  25. To Winter by Claude McKay
  26. Sonnet to Those Who See But Darkly by Georgia Douglas Johnson (1922)
  27. Poem by Alice Dunbar-Nelson in "The Book of American Negro Poetry" (1922)
  28. On the Road by Claude McKay
  29. Tercentenary of the Landing of Slaves at Jamestown 1619-1919 by Carrie Williams Clifford (1922)
  30. The Harlem Dancer by Claude McKay
  31. Three Sonnets by Carrie Williams Clifford (1922)
  32. America by Claude McKay