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 August 2024, we have identified and tagged about 118 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. Angelina Weld Grimke, "To the Dunbar High School (A Sonnet)" (1917)
  8. Claude McKay, "Baptism" (1921)
  9. Alice Dunbar-Nelson, "Sonnet"/Violets" (1922)
  10. Arthur Tunnell, "On Segregation" (1914)
  11. Benjamin Griffith Brawley, "Shakespeare" (1915)
  12. Alice Dunbar-Nelson, "Sonnet" (1919)
  13. Claude McKay, "If We Must Die" (1919)
  14. Claude McKay, "On the Road" (1922)
  15. Carrie Williams Clifford, "Lincoln" (1922)
  16. Claude McKay, "In Bondage" (1921)
  17. Claude McKay, "Africa" (1921)
  18. Claude McKay, "America" (1921)
  19. James D. Corrothers, "Paul Laurence Dunbar" (1906)
  20. James D. Corrothers, "The Negro Singer" (1913)
  21. Countee Cullen, "Yet Do I Marvel" (1925)
  22. Countee Cullen, "Brown Boy to Brown Girl (Remembrance on a hill) (For Yolanda)" (1924)
  23. Carrie Williams Clifford, "The New Year" (1920)
  24. Claude McKay, "Negro Dancers" (1922)
  25. Claude McKay, "A Capitalist at Dinner" (1919)
  26. Claude McKay, "Enslaved" (1921)
  27. Lewis Alexander, "The Dark Brother" (1927)
  28. Countee Cullen, "Oh, for a Little While Be Kind (For Ruth Marie)" (1925)
  29. Carrie Williams Clifford, "To Phyllis Wheatley (First African Poetess)" (1922)
  30. Countee Cullen, "The Dance of Love (After reading René Maran's 'Batouala')" (1923)
  31. Countee Cullen, "To My Friends" (1925)
  32. Carrie Williams Clifford, "Mothers of America" (1922)
  33. Claude McKay, "Roman Holiday" (1919)
  34. Claude McKay, "Wild May" (1922)
  35. Joseph S. Cotter, Jr. "Band of Gideon: and Other Poems" (Full text) (1918)
  36. Nellie R. Bright (Nellie Rathbone Bright), "To One Who Might Have Been My Friend" (1927)
  37. Claude McKay, "The Tired Worker" (1919)
  38. Three Sonnets by Carrie Williams Clifford (1922)
  39. Claude McKay, "Through Agony" (1921)
  40. Angelina W. Grimke (Angelina Weld Grimke), "Trees" (1928)
  41. James D. Corrothers, "Up! Sing the Song" (1913)
  42. Claude McKay, "Harlem Dancer" (1917)
  43. Claude McKay, "Outcast" (1922)
  44. Carrie Williams Clifford, "Tercentenary of the Landing of Slaves at Jamestown 1619-1919" (1922)
  45. Helene Johnson, "Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem" (1927)
  46. Joseph S. Cotter, "The Prophet" (1920)
  47. Claude McKay, "Dawn in New York" (1922)
  48. Leslie Pinckney Hill, "Father Love" (1919)
  49. Claude McKay, "I Shall Return" (1922)
  50. Claude McKay, "On a Primitive Canoe" (1922)
  51. Lucian B. Watkins, "The Black Madonna And Her Babe" (1918)
  52. Joseph S. Cotter, Sr., "Shakespeare's Sonnet" (1923)
  53. Poems by Leslie Pinckney Hill in "The Book of American Negro Poetry" (1922)
  54. Claude McKay, "To Winter" (1922)
  55. Countee Cullen, "From the Dark Tower" (1926)
  56. James D. Corrothers, "In a Southland Vale" (1904)
  57. Claude McKay, "The White City" (1921)
  58. Georgia Douglas Johnson, "Sonnet to Those Who See But Darkly" (1922)
  59. Claude McKay, "The Tired Worker" (1922)
  60. T. Thomas Fortune, "The Elsmeres" (1905)
  61. Gwendolyn B. Bennett, "Sonnet 1" (1927)
  62. Carrie Williams Clifford, "Sorrow Songs" 1927)
  63. Lois Augusta Cuglar, "Consecration" (1927)
  64. Claude McKay, "Poetry" (1922)
  65. Claude McKay, "I Know My Soul" (1922)
  66. Eloise A. Bibb, "Sonnet (To Dr. L.A. Martinet, editor of the New Orleans Crusader" (1895)
  67. Gwendolyn B. Bennett, "Sonnet 2" (1927)
  68. George Reginald Margetson, "Mary Evans Wilson (A Tribute)" (1928)
  69. Countee Cullen, "Sonnet to Her" (1927)
  70. Claude McKay, "The Little Peoples" (1919)
  71. Claude McKay, "Birds of Prey" (1922 Version)
  72. Benjamin Griffith Brawley, "Chaucer" (1922)
  73. Claude McKay, "To the White Fiends" (1918)
  74. Carrie Williams Clifford (Carrie W. Clifford), "Appeal" (1928)
  75. Charles Bertram Johnson, "The Cup of Knowledge" (1905)
  76. Claude McKay, "The Castaways" (1922)
  77. Benjamin Griffith Brawley, "To One Untrue" (1906)
  78. Claude McKay, "La Paloma in London" (1922)
  79. Carrie Williams Clifford (Carrie W. Clifford), "Warning" (1928)
  80. James D. Corrothers, "To -------- (A Sonnet)" (1901)
  81. Lewis Alexander, "Africa" (1924)
  82. Claude McKay, "Baptism" (1922)
  83. Placido, "Farewell to my mother" (translated by James Weldon Johnson) (1922)
  84. Benjamin Griffith Brawley, "First Sight" (1906)
  85. Poems by Claude McKay in "The Book of American Negro Poetry" (1922)
  86. Claude McKay, "Futility" (1922)
  87. Benjamin Griffith Brawley, "The Bells of Notre Dame" (1901)
  88. Thomas Millard Henry, "A Sonnet in Memory of Lucian B. Watkins" (1921)
  89. Claude McKay, "The Night Fire" (1922)
  90. The Gift by Carrie Williams Clifford
  91. Carrie Williams Clifford, "Mothers of America" (1922)
  92. James Edward McCall, "The New Negro" (1927)
  93. George Leonard Allen, "To a Negro Musician" (1927)
  94. Race-Hate by Carrie Williams Clifford
  95. Paul Laurence Dunbar, "The Path" (1896)
  96. Alice Dunbar-Nelson, "A Prayer" (1928)
  97. Claude McKay, "Invocation" (1917)
  98. Claude McKay, "Russian Cathedral" (1925)
  99. Countee Cullen, "A Thorn Forever In the Breast" (1927)
  100. H. Cordelia Ray, "Sonnets" (1893)
  101. T. Thomas Fortune, "Diamond in the Clay" (1905)
  102. Countee Cullen, "The Love Tree" (1927)
  103. Blanche Taylor Dickinson, "A Sonnet and a Rondeau" (1927)
  104. Charles Bertram Johnson, "Herbstgefuhl" (1905)
  105. T. Thomas Fortune, "The Elsmeres" (1906)
  106. T. Thomas Fortune, "Edgar Allen Poe" (1905)
  107. Claude McKay, "Thirst" (1921)
  108. Countee Cullen, "And When I Think" (1927)
  109. Carrie Williams Clifford, "Frederick Douglass" (1917)
  110. Charles Bertram Johnson, "The Dreamer" (1905)
  111. Claude McKay, "I Know My Soul" (1922)
  112. Claude McKay, "Like a Strong Tree" (1925)
  113. Claude McKay, "The Lynching" (1920)
  114. Charles Bertram Johnson, "To an Oak" (1906)
  115. T. Thomas Fortune, "Beyond the Veil" (1905)
  116. Claude McKay, "White Houses" (1925)
  117. T. H. Malone, "Constancy" (1905)
  118. Claude McKay, "Birds of Prey" (1922)