African American Poetry: A Digital Anthology Main Menu Full Text Collection: Books Published by African American Poets, 1870-1929 Long list of 100+ full texts books of poetry available on this "Anthology" Author Pages: Bios and Full Text Collections List of African American poets on African American Periodical Poetry (1900-1928) A collection of African Amerian Periodical Poetry, mostly focused on 1900-1928 Areas of Interest: Topics and Themes African American Poetry: Anthologies of the 1920s Poetry by African American Women (1890-1930): A Reader and Guide Open access textbook introducing readers to Poetry by Black Women Exploring Datasets related to African American poetry About This Site: Mission Statement, Contributors, and Recent Updates An account of the history and evolution of this site by the site editor. Further Reading / Works Cited

Sonnet

213
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 2024, we have identified and tagged about 63 poems in the anthology as sonnets. There are likely more poems in the collection yet to be tagged. -AS 

This page has paths:

  1. Poetic Form in African American Poetry Amardeep Singh

Contents of this tag:

  1. T. Thomas Fortune, "Lincoln" (1902)
  2. Georgia Douglas Johnson, "A Sonnet in Memory of John Brown" (1922)
  3. Joseph S. Cotter, Jr., "A Sonnet to the Negro Soldiers" (1918)
  4. William Stanley Braithwaite, "The Negro in American Literature" (1925)
  5. Georgia Douglas Johnson, "A Sonnet: to the Mantled" (1917)
  6. Chapter 3a: Social Justice in Sonnet Form, 1910-1919
  7. Countee Cullen, "Yet Do I Marvel" (1925)
  8. Claude McKay, "If We Must Die" (1919)
  9. Alice Dunbar-Nelson, "Sonnet"/Violets" (1922)
  10. Countee Cullen, "Brown Boy to Brown Girl (Remembrance on a hill) (For Yolanda)" (1924)
  11. Carrie Williams Clifford, "The New Year" (1920)
  12. Angelina Weld Grimke, "To the Dunbar High School (A Sonnet)" (1917)
  13. Claude McKay, "In Bondage" (1921)
  14. James D. Corrothers, "The Negro Singer" (1913)
  15. Alice Dunbar-Nelson, "Sonnet" (1919)
  16. Benjamin Griffith Brawley, "Shakespeare" (1915)
  17. Claude McKay, "Africa" (1921)
  18. Arthur Tunnell, "On Segregation" (1914)
  19. James D. Corrothers, "Paul Laurence Dunbar" (1906)
  20. Claude McKay, "America" (1921)
  21. Carrie Williams Clifford, "Lincoln" (1922)
  22. Claude McKay, "On the Road" (1922)
  23. Claude McKay, "Baptism" (1921)
  24. Countee Cullen, "From the Dark Tower" (1926)
  25. Joseph S. Cotter, Sr., "Shakespeare's Sonnet" (1923)
  26. James D. Corrothers, "Up! Sing the Song" (1913)
  27. Claude McKay, "The Tired Worker" (1919)
  28. Helene Johnson, "Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem" (1927)
  29. Carrie Williams Clifford, "Mothers of America" (1922)
  30. Joseph S. Cotter, "The Prophet" (1920)
  31. Countee Cullen, "Oh, for a Little While Be Kind (For Ruth Marie)" (1925)
  32. Lucian B. Watkins, "The Black Madonna And Her Babe" (1918)
  33. Countee Cullen, "To My Friends" (1925)
  34. Lewis Alexander, "The Dark Brother" (1927)
  35. Claude McKay, "I Shall Return" (1922)
  36. Claude McKay, "Through Agony" (1921)
  37. Georgia Douglas Johnson, "Sonnet to Those Who See But Darkly" (1922)
  38. Claude McKay, "Wild May" (1922)
  39. Countee Cullen, "The Dance of Love (After reading René Maran's 'Batouala')" (1923)
  40. Claude McKay, "To Winter" (1922)
  41. Carrie Williams Clifford, "To Phyllis Wheatley (First African Poetess)" (1922)
  42. James D. Corrothers, "In a Southland Vale" (1904)
  43. Nellie R. Bright (Nellie Rathbone Bright), "To One Who Might Have Been My Friend" (1927)
  44. Carrie Williams Clifford, "Tercentenary of the Landing of Slaves at Jamestown 1619-1919" (1922)
  45. Claude McKay, "Negro Dancers" (1922)
  46. Claude McKay, "Outcast" (1922)
  47. Angelina W. Grimke (Angelina Weld Grimke), "Trees" (1928)
  48. Leslie Pinckney Hill, "Father Love" (1919)
  49. Poems by Leslie Pinckney Hill in "The Book of American Negro Poetry" (1922)
  50. Claude McKay, "A Capitalist at Dinner" (1919)
  51. Claude McKay, "Dawn in New York" (1922)
  52. Claude McKay, "Harlem Dancer" (1917)
  53. Claude McKay, "The White City" (1921)
  54. Joseph S. Cotter, Jr. "Band of Gideon: and Other Poems" (Full text) (1918)
  55. Claude McKay, "Roman Holiday" (1919)
  56. Claude McKay, "On a Primitive Canoe" (1922)
  57. Claude McKay, "Enslaved" (1921)
  58. Benjamin Griffith Brawley, "The Bells of Notre Dame" (1901)
  59. James Edward McCall, "The New Negro" (1927)
  60. T. H. Malone, "Constancy" (1905)
  61. T. Thomas Fortune, "Edgar Allen Poe" (1905)
  62. Charles Bertram Johnson, "To an Oak" (1906)
  63. Claude McKay, "To the White Fiends" (1918)
  64. Claude McKay, "Russian Cathedral" (1925)
  65. T. Thomas Fortune, "Beyond the Veil" (1905)
  66. Claude McKay, "La Paloma in London" (1922)
  67. Countee Cullen, "The Love Tree" (1927)
  68. T. Thomas Fortune, "The Elsmeres" (1905)
  69. Carrie Williams Clifford, "Sorrow Songs" 1927)
  70. Claude McKay, "Like a Strong Tree" (1925)
  71. Claude McKay, "Futility" (1922)
  72. The Gift by Carrie Williams Clifford
  73. Countee Cullen, "And When I Think" (1927)
  74. Eloise A. Bibb, "Sonnet (To Dr. L.A. Martinet, editor of the New Orleans Crusader" (1895)
  75. Poems by Claude McKay in "The Book of American Negro Poetry" (1922)
  76. Claude McKay, "White Houses" (1925)
  77. Claude McKay, "The Lynching" (1920)
  78. Benjamin Griffith Brawley, "Chaucer" (1922)
  79. Carrie Williams Clifford (Carrie W. Clifford), "Appeal" (1928)
  80. Lois Augusta Cuglar, "Consecration" (1927)
  81. Claude McKay, "The Tired Worker" (1922)
  82. Race-Hate by Carrie Williams Clifford
  83. Gwendolyn B. Bennett, "Sonnet 1" (1927)
  84. Benjamin Griffith Brawley, "To One Untrue" (1906)
  85. Carrie Williams Clifford (Carrie W. Clifford), "Warning" (1928)
  86. Claude McKay, "Thirst" (1921)
  87. George Reginald Margetson, "Mary Evans Wilson (A Tribute)" (1928)
  88. Claude McKay, "I Know My Soul" (1922)
  89. Paul Laurence Dunbar, "The Path" (1896)
  90. Gwendolyn B. Bennett, "Sonnet 2" (1927)
  91. Benjamin Griffith Brawley, "First Sight" (1906)
  92. Lewis Alexander, "Africa" (1924)
  93. Claude McKay, "I Know My Soul" (1922)
  94. Claude McKay, "Birds of Prey" (1922 Version)
  95. H. Cordelia Ray, "Sonnets" (1893)
  96. Three Sonnets by Carrie Williams Clifford (1922)
  97. Thomas Millard Henry, "A Sonnet in Memory of Lucian B. Watkins" (1921)
  98. Claude McKay, "Birds of Prey" (1922)
  99. Claude McKay, "The Castaways" (1922)
  100. George Leonard Allen, "To a Negro Musician" (1927)
  101. Alice Dunbar-Nelson, "A Prayer" (1928)
  102. Charles Bertram Johnson, "The Cup of Knowledge" (1905)
  103. Claude McKay, "Baptism" (1922)
  104. Charles Bertram Johnson, "Herbstgefuhl" (1905)
  105. T. Thomas Fortune, "Diamond in the Clay" (1905)
  106. Carrie Williams Clifford, "Frederick Douglass" (1917)
  107. Claude McKay, "The Little Peoples" (1919)
  108. Countee Cullen, "A Thorn Forever In the Breast" (1927)
  109. Claude McKay, "Invocation" (1917)
  110. Claude McKay, "Poetry" (1922)
  111. James D. Corrothers, "To -------- (A Sonnet)" (1901)
  112. Claude McKay, "The Night Fire" (1922)
  113. Charles Bertram Johnson, "The Dreamer" (1905)
  114. Carrie Williams Clifford, "Mothers of America" (1922)
  115. T. Thomas Fortune, "The Elsmeres" (1906)
  116. Blanche Taylor Dickinson, "A Sonnet and a Rondeau" (1927)
  117. Countee Cullen, "Sonnet to Her" (1927)