Jimmy's Blues: Gedichte/Poems

by James Baldwin

James Baldwin, 1924 in New York geboren, 1987 in Frankreich gestorben, gilt als einer der wichtigsten Romanciers des 20. Jahrhunderts. Weniger bekannt sind seine Gedichte, die er 1983 unter dem Titel "Jimmy's Blues" versammelt hat. Baldwin schrieb in seiner frühen Jugend Gedichte, im Lauf seines Lebens gelegentlich und wieder intensiv, in den frühen achtziger Jahren, als das Langgedicht "Staggerlee wonders" entstanden ist. Diese Gedichte sind Hörprotokolle, die in ihrer Struktur vom Blues ausgehen, die Sprache der Gospel zitieren und die Perspektive singender Diven einnehmen, die ihre Geliebten schmähen, umgarnen, vermissen. Die Musik und das Hören auf ihre Poesie eröffnen einen Fluchtraum, der schützt vor Rassismus, Homophobie und Ausgrenzung. Als "fugitive radicalism", als flüchtende Radikalität hat Martina Werbanowska seine Poetik beschrieben: die Poesie als eine Position des Exils, in die hinein, aus der heraus geflohen werden kann.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Queer, African American, LGBT, Race, Fiction

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Works of American writer James Arthur Baldwin, outspoken critic of racism, include Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), a novel, and Notes of a Native Son (1955), a collection of essays.

James Arthur Baldwin authored plays and poems in society.

He came as the eldest of nine children; his stepfather served as a minister. At 14 years of age in 1938, Baldwin preached at the small fireside Pentecostal church in Harlem. From religion in the early 1940s, he transferred his faith to literature with the still evident impassioned cadences of black churches. From 1948, Baldwin made his home primarily in the south of France but often returned to the United States of America to lecture or to teach.

In his Giovanni's Room, a white American expatriate must come to terms with his homosexuality. In 1957, he began spending half of each year in city of New York.

James Baldwin offered a vital literary voice during the era of civil rights activism in the 1950s and 1960s.
He first partially autobiographically accounted his youth. His influential Nobody Knows My Name and The Fire Next Time informed a large white audience. Another Country talks about gay sexual tensions among intellectuals of New York. Segments of the black nationalist community savaged his gay themes. Eldridge Cleaver of the Black Panthers stated the Baldwin displayed an "agonizing, total hatred of blacks." People produced Blues for Mister Charlie , play of Baldwin, in 1964. Huey Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, defended Baldwin.

Going to Meet the Man and Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone provided powerful descriptions. He as an openly gay man increasingly in condemned discrimination against lesbian persons.

From stomach cancer, Baldwin died in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France. People buried his body at the Ferncliff cemetery in Hartsdale near city of New York.

Reviews

[Jessaka · Rating 5 out of 5]

And Memphis Blues

A few years ago, I went with my family to Martin Luther King, Jr’s. memorial and museum in Memphis.
I stood close to where he was shot and killed. I went across the street and stood close to where his killer had stood. It never feels good to be so close to death, especially that of a great man. I had a feeling that I got from it that I cannot describe. Later, I had gone with my husband to St. Helena Island where King had lived and learned that he was to return there after his speech in Memphis.

I saw a replica of the bus that Rosa Parks road in at the museum,
And the walls were painted with pictures of Civil-Right’s leaders and other black writers that spoke out against injustices. Perhaps, all can be considered as Civil-Right’s leaders, for each and every one had led the way. I had known of many of these leaders and authors, some I had read, but many I had not. I thought to begin now to educate myself further, first with James Baldwin.

Baldwin’s poems are harsh. They get to the heart of the matter, they are disturbing on two levels to me, first, he is so right in what he says, and this makes them unsettling. Then, they are filled with anger, but the anger I heard only because the book was being read by a man who knew how to read poetry, where I would not have heard the anger had I been read it myself. Anger makes me cringe. Yet, he had every right to be angry.

So far, I cannot say that I am fond of his writing, but I have only read “If Beale Street Could Talk,” this book, and “I Am Not Your Negro.” I will try one more before moving on to another writer.

[leynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most comprehensive edition of Baldwin's poetry out there, an absolute treat!

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize James Baldwin was a poet on top of being a master essayist and novelist. I was happy to encounter this book of one long poem and a handful of shorter poems when I was up in the middle of the night looking for poetry ebooks in the library catalog.

Without question, "Jimmy's Blues" is the powerhouse, and more specifically the section labeled "Staggerlee wonders." You can read it on the Poetry Foundation Website but I'll also pull out a few excerpts.

There are so many recent works about the experience of being black in America. James Baldwin can tell you about that and he will not mince words. "Jimmy's Blues" was originally published in 1983 but went out of print; this collection was published in 2014. I think the publisher felt, as I felt as a reader, that his words were as relevant as ever.

"My days are not their days.
My ways are not their ways.
I would not think of them,
one way or the other,
did not they so grotesquely
block the view
between me and my brother."

...

"And, anyway, none of this changes the reality,
which is, for example, that I do not want my son
to die in Guantanamo,
or anywhere else, for that matter,
serving the Stars and Stripes.
(I've seen some stars.
I got some stripes.) "

...

"the smile saying, Don't be dismayed.
We know how you feel. You can trust us.

Yeah. I would like to believe you.
But we are not talking about belief."

[Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favorite poems: "Some Days", "Christmas Carol", and "For A.".

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up.
This slim bound volume of a couple dozen poems truly packed a soul searing suckerpunch. I was angry, alone, forlorn, and introspective in turns. My heart stopped and started as my head and heart and soul tried to keep up with the lines on the pages. Highly recommend!

[Adriana Scarpin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ser poeta não é a primeira coisa que vem à mente quando tratamos de James Baldwin, cujo centenário estamos comemorando esse ano, mas talvez seja um erro já que a prosa dele é suficientemente poética para chamá-lo assim.
A questão é que ele passou a vida fazendo poesia, seja a escrevendo, seja a vivendo de forma combativa, nessa pequena edição saída em 2014 que reúne a antologia oitentista Jimmy's Blues, somada a outros poemas, podemos ver a escrita e que não por acaso são de fato blues: política e afetivamente.

[philosophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well. Niggers don't own nothing,
got no flag, even our names
are hand-me-downs
and you don't change that
by calling yourself X:
sometimes that just makes it worse,
like obliterating the path that leads back
to whence you came, and
to where you can begin.
And, anyway, none of this changes the reality,
which is, for example, that I do not want my son
to die in Guantanamo,
or anywhere else, for that matter,
serving the Stars and Stripes.

Στην ποιητική συλλογή του Baldwin, του αγαπημένου γιου του Harlem, εναρμονίζεται η προσωπική κι ανελέητη επίθεση στην υπεροχή των λευκών κι η σαφής αντίληψη της περιρρέουσας ατμόσφαιρας και της αμερικανικής ιστορίας. Όπως και στο μυθιστορηματικό του έργο έτσι και στην ποιητική του παραγωγή εκφέρεται η περήφανη εμπιστοσύνη του στην κοσμοθεωρία του, το ιδιωτικά και δημόσια εριστικό του κοινωνικό σχόλιο με ασίγαστο σθένος, με πρωτοπρόσωπη γραφή, με κουβεντιαστό λόγο και ξεκινώντας πάντοτε από τον παράγοντα της αγάπης. Η σεξουαλικότητα, ειδικότερα, αποτελεί ένα θεμελιώδες συστατικό της ζωής και της τέχνης του, ένα στοιχείο που τον απομονώνει από την πουριτανή κοινωνία της οποίας αποτελεί μέρος, μια μαρτυρία που επιλέγει και απαιτεί να καταγράψει γυμνή, όπως τη βιώνει, στον κορμό του έργου του.

The darkest hour
is just before dawn,
and that, I see,
which does not guarantee
power to draw the next breath,
nor abolish the suspicion
that the brightest hour
we will ever see
occurs just before we cease to be.

Ο Baldwin γράφει ποίηση χρησιμοποιώντας τις σημειώσεις που αδιάκοπα κρατάει, αντλώντας υλικό από την ανηλεή πραγματικότητα που ζει, από τα μαρτζινάλια της δικής του ιστορίας, χαρίζοντας ειλικρινή σχολιασμό, σημειώνοντας κι ύστερα δίνοντας στον κόσμο ό,τι γνώρισε κι ένιωσε χωρίς να ξεχνάει τις ρίζες του, την αφρικανική, τη νότια, τη γαλλική κληρονομιά και φυσικά εκείνη του Harlem. Η σχέση του Baldwin με τη γλώσσα είναι καθοριστική -δεν αποφεύγει να χρησιμοποιήσει σκληρό λόγο ακόμη κι αν αυτός διχάσει, ακόμη κι αν αυτό σημαίνει πως ο κόσμος θα τον απαρνηθεί. Στα έργα του τάσσεται υπέρ της έκθεσης της καταστροφής που επιφέρει η φτώχεια κι η αορατότητα των μαύρων, εντούτοις πρόκειται για έναν καλλιτέχνη που κυνηγήθηκε κι από την συντηρητική μαύρη κοινότητα, καθώς θεωρήθηκε πως παραμελεί τον πολιτισμό τους χάριν της δυτικής, λευκής, κουλτούρας, κι από τους λευκούς, ένεκα του ανταγωνισμού προς εκείνους που διακρίνει το σύνολο του έργου του, λόγω των κατηγοριών που τους απευθύνει για την αμείλικτη βιαιότητα.

History is weary
of her unspeakable liaison with Time,
for Time and History
have never seen eye to eye:
Time laughs at History
and time and time and time again
Time traps History in a lie.

But we always, somehow, managed
to roar History back onstage
to take another bow,
to justify, to sanctify
the journey until now.

[Flo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Between holding on,
and letting go,
I wonder
how you know
the difference.

It must be something like
the difference
between heaven and hell
but how, in advance,
can you tell?

If letting go
is saying no,
then what is holding on
saying?
...

from "Conundrum (on my brithday) (for Rico)"

Renowned for his essays and novels, for those who don't know, Baldwin wrote poetry throughout his life. He wrote with an engaged, layered, facile hand. [...] Baldwin's images carry their weight and we, the reader, carry their consequences. In one turn of phrase and line, something lies easy in repose; in the next, he is telling the Lord what to do; the words jump, fall in line, with great and marching nerve:

Lord,
when you send the rain
think about it, please,
a little?

Do
not get carried away
by the sound of falling water,
the marvelous light
on the falling water.

I
am beneath that water.
It falls with great force
and the light

Blinds
me to the light.

Actual rating: I don't know. Somewhere between 3 and 3.9 stars. Rreview to come.
Aug 4, 18

[DeeReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of poems by the late, James Baldwin will have readers realizing that history is repeating itself. Baldwin's poems are like music and just as vivid as his essays/novels but "Jimmy's Blues and Other Poems" will hold you, having you reread the poems, a phrase, a relatable word and give you ah -ha moment references to the world around you!

[Dary · Rating 5 out of 5]

spontaneous read. cried. even found verses very similar to something that's been sitting in my notebook for a year. surreal experience.

[Rania Attafi · Rating 5 out of 5]

It never ceases to amaze me how poetry could connect you to people you have nothing in common with. People you never thought about before yet a single poem can make you feel their troubles as if they are your own.
Well this book made me feel and I believe that's the biggest compliment you can give to poetry, it simply made me feel...

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Imagination" is one of the best poems I've ever read!

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prior to reading a poem of Baldwin's in From Totems to Hip-Hop: A Multicultural Anthology of Poetry Across America, I had no idea that he was a poet in addition to his more famous work as an novelist and essayist. Not only is he a poet, he's quite a good one, and I'm very glad this was my first introduction to his work. Baldwin explores in a powerful voice being a black man and a bisexual black man in America. Both his political and love poems are powerful and he uses language in a unique way.

[Brown Girl Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was online shopping when I ran across Jimmy's Blues and Other Poems. I picked it up and I read straight through. I had no idea Baldwin had written poetry. Having only read two of his novels I was happily surprised by the depth and universal themes found in his poems. Most of the poems are dedicated to people he knew but the themes ring true to life in general. There are many themes running through his poems that run equally through his novels. If anything this book will restore your faith in poetry. I gave it 4 stars but I wanted to give it 4,5.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

favorites:

Imagination

Imagination
creates the situation,
and then, the situation
creates imagination.

It may, of course,
be the other way around:
Columbus was discovered
by what he found.



Untitled

Lord,
when you send the rain,
think about it, please,
a little?
Do
not get carried away
by the sound of falling water,
the marvelous light
on the falling water.
I
am beneath that water.
It falls with great force
and the light
Blinds
me to the light.

[Michael Forsyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love learning that James Baldwin saw himself first as a poet. This work includes some really interesting poems but feels more important as a part of his creative journey than as a standalone work by himself; more as a way to process specific events, or relationships, almost like reading a journal. So I give this three stars as a work of poetry, but see its value more in understanding Baldwin as a whole.

[Castles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, while in a couple of difficult days behind me, this book really helped me get my energies back. It has this reviving quality to it.

This book must be read aloud, probably with a couple of glasses of wine, rapping the lines and feel that beat quality in it.

[Jonah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally amazinggg my favorite were Staggerlee wonders, Munich Winter 193, Death is easy, Inventory/On Being 52, Song For The Shepard Boy 💝💝🫶🫶

[Alexander Donnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this collection after revisiting Go Tell It on the Mountain and Giovanni’s Room—both of which still hold up as powerful, deeply affecting novels. My curiosity was piqued by Baldwin’s transition into poetry, especially given how masterful his prose is. I’m always interested in how great prose writers handle the poetic form.

That said, I came away from Jimmy’s Blues with mixed feelings. While I admire Baldwin immensely, I found this collection to be somewhat uneven. For me, the most notable issue was the use of rhyme, which occasionally felt forced or heavy-handed. I don’t believe rhyme is inherently outdated or sentimental, but in this case, it often came across as awkward and disrupted the natural flow of the language.

There were, however, moments of genuine clarity and impact. A few lines stood out and stayed with me—especially those that meditated on time and its relationship to suffering and resilience. Poems like A Lover’s Question hinted at Baldwin’s wide literary awareness, echoing older poetic traditions in subtle ways. Gypsy also had an interesting narrative rhythm, though it read more like prose shaped into poetic form than a fully realized poem.

But the real standout was The Giver. It’s an extraordinary poem—beautifully structured, emotionally resonant, and rhythmically complex. I’ve found myself rereading it multiple times, and it alone made the collection worthwhile. It’s one of those rare poems that feels complete, as though nothing could be added or taken away without diminishing it.

All in all, this wasn’t the most cohesive or consistent poetry collection I’ve read, but it offered valuable insights—not only into Baldwin’s range as a writer but also into the challenges of crossing genres. If nothing else, it reminded me that even literary legends are allowed to experiment, and that sometimes one great poem is enough to make a book unforgettable.

[☆ lydiature ☆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

i think i just have to come to terms with me not liking poetry. because no matter who it is or the subject, i just can’t get into it. out of the hundred or so poems that i have read, i only liked 2 of them: “daddy” by sylvia plath and “gasoline” by margaret atwood. i’ve tried all kinds of styles, poems from different eras and cultures and i just don’t like them.

this collection by baldwin was lackluster. the content was okay—he mostly talked about race and sexuality. which is obviously fine but the writing wasn’t very good. i was expecting more from this collection. all of his poems were like the instagram quote style thing that is apparently plaguing social media—like rupi kaur and warsan shire. they’re basically “impactful” sentences split up into random breaks. i understand that art is subject but a poem is not a quote. punctuation, break lines, stanzas, and word choices matter. but looking at each of his poems (and the instagram quote poetry style) lacks reason. he could’ve picked any word, any punctuation, any line break.

i know that some people like that style but i don’t—it doesn’t matter who it is. i just feel like these writers hide their incompetence in the subject matter of “sensational” topics like sexuality, race, gender, and immigration. the concepts are good don’t get me wrong, but that’s a very lazy way of writing. quotes are not poems. it just feels very manipulative to me.

i still love baldwin but i personally will be avoiding his poems from now on. the style he uses to approach his fiction/essays is completely different from his poetry. it’s not very consistent. i honestly didn’t even recognize him in this work.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet and still I struggle with poetry. Epic poetry I love, but outside of that form I am lost and often dissatisfied with what I read. So, having said that... It is James Baldwin, so this is amazing, for me. I hardly understand the wonders this man contained in his beingness. What he saw, who he knew, what he felt, how he dreamed and lived and desired and spoke and fashioned a life of such power and grace amid the shit pile we call this world. Just wow.
The Introduction by Nikky Finney is quite a revelation too. A poet herself, she manages to grasp the supremely overflowing bounty of Baldwin in a few short pages. She gets it.
Probably (OK, definitely) a book to buy and savor, here and there, not just ingest in total and try to figure out the messages and truths and joy and pain and love sprinkled throughout all at once. So, my review is merely for the first reading, though I dare say I won't be back here to heap more praise on the work, I'll leave that to others. Because others will surely find this and love it, much as I did.

[Cameron Cook]

Baldwin’s command of emotion and mood is unparalleled, particularly when it comes to filtering rage.

[Callie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up! i prefer his prose, personally, but still full of excellent writing and lines!

[māris šteinbergs · Rating 4 out of 5]

nothing that particularly amazing, but very similar to Ginsberg

[The Black Geek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although not as deeply complex and poignant like his essays and longer works of fiction, Baldwin's poems most definitely resonate with the themes he is most noted for, such as political and social elements of American life and aspects of the African American experience. The specific poems worth highlighting in this collection include:

-"Stagerlee Wonders"

-"A Lover's Question"

-"Inventory/On Being 52"

In addition, there is a beautifully written introduction to this collection by the amazing poet, Nikky Finney. For those of you who are dedicated to delving more deeply into the diverse and varied works penned by Baldwin, I would highly recommend this book. For those who enjoy the genre of poetry, I will say examine these gems closely for the stylistic and structural influence of Dunbar, Hayden & Hughes....

[yarrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I definitely am a bigger fan of Baldwin's prose, but these poems are still important and give a good insight into a more playful dimension of his writing. Some of these are apocalyptic, while others are like old love songs. I'm especially interested in some of the themes which move throughout the collection and connect to his prose: white supremacy (and its libidinal underpinnings), time (in its openness), history (as a nightmare), desire (and corresponding distance).

[Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the whole thing aloud to myself. When I finished, it was midnight. Then I sat alone in silence for an hour.

[jy · Rating 5 out of 5]

i think there was a reason i held off finishing this and then picking it back up now in this moment of time. a cry, a well needed release of finally feeling heard.

fav poems are:

“Conundrum (on my birthday) (for Rico)”, “Mirrors (for David)” and “For A”

favourite lines from each aforementioned poems in the same order are:

“Perhaps
one must learn to trust one's terror:
the holding on the letting go is error:
the lightning has no choice, the whirlwind has one voice”

“Although I may not see your heart, or fearful well-springs of your art, I know enough to stare down danger, anywhere.
I know enough to tell you to go to hell and when I think you're wrong
I will not go along.
I have a right to tremble”

“Love,
love has no gifts to give
except the revelation that the soul can live: on a coming day, you will hear, from afar,
I, your lover, pray.
You will hear, then, the prayer that you cannot hear now, and, when you hear that sobbing, boy, rejoice, and know that love is the purpose of the human voice!”

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I finished the opening poem, Staggerlee wonders, I rushed to YouTube where, hooray, there is a recording of Baldwin reading it. This poem was a feat, and I had to hear it in his voice. I love his playfulness with language in this collection, his lyricism.

In addition to this first poem, Inventory/On Being 52 was another one that really knocked my socks off (especially as I am aging myself).

But this pretty little one was probably my favorite because of that ending, oh my god:

Untitled

Lord,
when you send the rain
think about it, please,
a little?
Do
not get carried away
by the sound of falling water,
the marvelous light
on the falling water.
I
am beneath that water.
It falls with great force
and the light
Blinds
me to the light.

[Alexa Gutierrez Reyna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I personally have a difficult time cohesively summarizing poetry collections. So I’ll just list some stand out lines and phrase that meant something to me.

- “Manifest Destiny is a hymn to madness”
- “Time laughs at History and time and time and time again Time traps History in a lie”
- “Time is not money: Time is time. And a man is a man, my brother, and a crime remains a crime”
- “Death is easy”
- “You do not love me. I see that. You do no see me: I am your black cat”
- “when we meet again there will be that secret knowledge between us”
- “Anonymous, and, above all, democratic”
- “Genocide is among the American crimes, and we petition this nation to atone”
- “Love, love has no gifts to give except the revelation that the soul can live”