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    The Poetry Of James Weldon Johnson: "Young man, young man, your arm's too short to box with God."
    The Poetry Of James Weldon Johnson: "Young man, young man, your arm's too short to box with God."
    The Poetry Of James Weldon Johnson: "Young man, young man, your arm's too short to box with God."
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    The Poetry Of James Weldon Johnson: "Young man, young man, your arm's too short to box with God."

    By James Weldon Johnson

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    James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871 – June 26, 1938) was an American author, politician, diplomat, critic, journalist, poet, anthologist, educator, lawyer, songwriter, and early civil rights activist. Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida on June 17th 1871. His early education was at home from his mother, Helen, a musician and a public school teacher (the first female, black teacher in Florida at a grammar school) and then at Edwin M. Stanton School. At 16 his education moved to Atlanta University, graduating with a degree in 1894. This classical education gave Johnson the impetus to put his life to work for the benefit of black people. In 1904 Johnson helped in Theodore Roosevelt's presidential bid. On winning Roosevelt appointed him as US consul at Puerto Cabello, Venezuela from 1906–1908 and then Nicaragua from 1909–1913.  During his work in Nicaragua he married Grace Nail whom he had met in New York a few years earlier whilst writing songs. His career spanned several elements; education, the diplomatic corps, civil rights activism, literature, poetry, and music. Johnson worked for the NAACP from 1916 as a field secretary, organizing local chapters. To counter race riots and lynching’s he organized mass demonstrations, such as a silent protest parade of over ten thousand African Americans down New York’s Fifth Avenue on July 28, 1917. In 1920 Johnson was elected to manage the NAACP, the FIRST African American to hold this position.  That same year he was dispatched to monitor conditions in Haiti and described in The Nation the brutal occupation and also offered remedies. During the 20 he was one of the major inspirations of the Harlem Renaissance In the midst of all this he continued to write novels, poems, and folklore. In 1917, he saw published 50 Years and Other Poems. In 1922, he edited The Book of American Negro Poetry, which the Academy of American Poets calls "a major contribution to the history of African-American literature." In 1927 followed God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse. James Weldon Johnson died on June 26th, 1938 whilst vacationing in Wiscasset, Maine his car was hit by a train.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCopyright Group
    Release dateJan 17, 2014
    ISBN9781783948123
    The Poetry Of James Weldon Johnson: "Young man, young man, your arm's too short to box with God."
    Author

    James Weldon Johnson

    James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) was an African American writer and civil rights activist. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, he obtained an education from a young age, first by his mother, a musician and teacher, and then at the Edwin M. Stanton School. In 1894, he graduated from Atlanta University, a historically Black college known for its rigorous classical curriculum. With his brother Rosamond, he moved to New York City, where they excelled as songwriters for Broadway. His poem “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” (1899), set to music by Rosamond, eventually became known as the “Negro National Anthem.” Over the next several decades, he dedicated himself to education, activism, and diplomacy. From 1906 to 1913, he worked as a United States Consul, first in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, and then in Nicaragua. He married Grace Nail, an activist and artist, in 1910, and would return to New York with her following the end of his diplomatic career. While in Nicaragua, he wrote and anonymously published The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912), a novel exploring the phenomenon of racial passing. In 1917, Johnson began his work with the NAACP, eventually rising to the role of executive secretary. He became known as a towering figure of the Harlem Renaissance, writing poems and novels as well as compiling such anthologies as The Book of American Negro Poetry (1922). For his contributions to African American culture as an artist and patron, his activism against lynching, and his pioneering work as the first African American professor at New York University, Johnson is considered one of twentieth century America’s leading cultural figures.

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      The Poetry Of James Weldon Johnson - James Weldon Johnson

      The Poetry Of James Weldon Johnson

      James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871 – June 26, 1938) was an American author, politician, diplomat, critic, journalist, poet, anthologist, educator, lawyer, songwriter, and early civil rights activist.

      Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida on June 17th 1871.  His early education was at home from his mother, Helen, a musician and a public school teacher (the first female, black teacher in Florida at a grammar school) and then at Edwin M. Stanton School.

      His mother gave him her shared love of both English literature and European music.

      At 16 his education moved to Atlanta University, graduating with a degree in 1894.  This classical education gave Johnson the impetus to put his life to work for the benefit of black people.

      In 1904 Johnson helped in Theodore Roosevelt's presidential bid.  On winning Roosevelt appointed him as US consul at Puerto Cabello, Venezuela from 1906–1908 and then Nicaragua from 1909–1913. 

      During his work in Nicaragua he married Grace Nail whom he had met in New York a few years earlier whilst writing songs. 

      His career spanned several elements; education, the diplomatic corps, civil rights activism, literature, poetry, and music.

      Johnson worked for the NAACP from 1916 as a field secretary, organizing local chapters.   To counter race riots and lynching’s he organized mass demonstrations, such as a silent protest parade of over ten thousand African Americans down New York’s Fifth Avenue on July 28, 1917.

      In 1920 Johnson was elected to manage the NAACP, the FIRST African American to hold this position.  That same year he was dispatched to monitor conditions in Haiti and described in The Nation the brutal occupation and also offered remedies. During the 20 he was one of the major inspirations of the Harlem Renaissance

      In the midst of all this he continued to write novels, poems, and folklore. In 1917, he saw published 50 Years and Other Poems.  In 1922, he edited The Book of American Negro Poetry, which the Academy of American Poets calls a major contribution to the history of African-American literature. In 1927 followed God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse.

      One of the first African-American professors at NYU he was also, later, a professor of creative literature and writing at Fisk University. 

      James Weldon Johnson died on June 26th, 1938 whilst vacationing in Wiscasset, Maine his car was hit by a train.

      Index Of Poems

      A Mid-Day Dreamer

      A Poet To His Baby Son

      And The Greatest Of These Is War

      Father, Father Abraham

      A Banjo Song

      The Seasons

      Brothers

      Dat Gal O' Mine

      Down By The Carib Sea

      Fifty Years (1863-1913)

      Fragment

      Ghosts Of The Old Year

      July In Georgy

      Lazy

      Ma Lady's Lips Am Like De Honey

      Nobody's Lookin' But De Owl An' De Moon

      O Black And Unknown Bards

      O Southland!

      Possum Song

      Sence You Went Away

      Sonnet

      The Awakening

      The Black Mammy

      The Color Sergeant

      The Creation

      The Ghost Of Deacon Brown

      The Gift To Sing

      The Prodigal Son

      The Rivals

      The Suicide

      The Temptress

      The White Witch

      The Word Of An Engineer

      The Young Warrior

      To Horace Bumstead

      Vashti

      You's Sweet To Yo' Mammy De Same

      To America

      Deep In the Quiet Wood

      From The Spanish

      Life

      Voluptas

      Omar

      Beauty That Is Never Old

      Girl Of Fifteen

      Her Eyes Twin Pools

      The Glory Of The Day Was In Her Face

      Venus In The Garden

      Before A Painting

      Morning, Noon And Night

      Mother Night

      I Hear The Stars Still Singing

      Lift Every Voice And Sing

      Listen, Lord: A Prayer

      An Explanation

      Sleep

      Brer Rabbit You's De Cutes' Of 'Em All

      De Little Pickaninny's Gone To Sleep

      From The German Of Uhland

      From The Spanish Of Placido

      The Reward

      Prayer At Sunrise

      Go Down, Death

      A Mid-Day Dreamer

      I love to sit alone, and dream,

      And dream, and dream;

      In fancy's boat to softly glide

      Along some stream

      Where fairy palaces of gold

      And crystal bright

      Stand all along the glistening shore:

      A wondrous sight.

      My craft is built of ivory,

      With silver oars,

      The sails are spun of golden threads,

      And priceless stores

      Of precious gems adorn its prow,

      And 'round its mast

      An hundred silken cords are set

      To hold it fast.

      My galley-slaves are sprightly elves

      Who, as they row,

      And as their shining oars they swing

      Them to and fro,

      Keep time to music wafted on

      The scented air,

      Made by the mermaids as they comb

      Their

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