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