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