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God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse
A collection of Negro sermons exemplifying the Negro spirit
56 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1927
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981 people want to read
About the author
James Weldon Johnson
148 books132 followersJames Weldon Johnson was an American author, politician, diplomat, critic, journalist, poet, anthologist, educator, lawyer, songwriter, and early civil rights activist. Johnson is remembered best for his writing, which includes novels, poems, and collections of folklore. He was also one of the first African-American professors at New York University. Later in life he was a professor of creative literature and writing at Fisk University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
February 1, 2024
Sounding God's Trombones
James Weldon Johnson (1871 -- 1938) is best-known as the author of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the "Negro National Anthem" written in 1900 for Lincoln's birthday. Johnson had extraordinary gifts as a poet. His celebration of the African-American preacher in "God's Trombones", published in 1927, is a masterpiece of American poetry.
Johnson was inspired to write "God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse " after hearing a stirring African-American preacher in Kansas City in 1918. Johnson wrote seven free-verse poems on biblical themes to capture the rhythm, content, language and religious commitment of the preacher. Johnson also wrote a celebrated prose introduction to the book in which he described the place of the preacher in African-American life and explained his decision not to use dialect in writing the poems. Johnson also explained why he used the trombone as the guiding figure of his poem. Johnson wrote of his experience with the Kansas City preacher:
"He strode the pulpit up and down in what was actually a very rhythmic voice, a voice -- what shall I say? -- not of an organ or a trumpet, but rather of a trombone, the instrument possessing above all others the power to express the wide and varied range of emotions encompassed by the human voice -- and with greater amplitude. He intoned, he moaned, he pleaded, -- he blared, he crashed, he thundered. ... [T]he emotional effect upon me was irresistible."
The poetry opens with a short preliminary call to prayer, "Listen, Lord" followed by the seven sermons. The sermons open with the preacher's account of "The Creation"; and they conclude with a sermon on the end of days, "The Judgment Day". Four of the remaining poems deal with Biblical subjects, "The Prodigal Son", "Noah Built the Ark", "The Crucifixion", and "Let my People Go", the story of the Exodus from Egypt. The remaining sermon "Go down death -- a Funeral Sermon" is a meditation on the death of an elderly woman in Georgia who, in the preacher's language, is carried by Death to the throne of Jesus. The poems are in free verse, move in an elevated and lively style, include vivid imagery, and a sense of rhythmic speech and propulsion. It is useful to read them aloud. The poems make use effective use of repetition. Look at "The Crucifixion", for example, and see the many different adjectives Johnson applies to the figure of Jesus. The opening lines of the first three stanzas alone refer to "my gentle Jesus", "my burdened Jesus" and "my sorrowing Jesus". Each of the poems conclude with a short and effective exhortation to the listener. Thus, in the final words of the final poem, "The Judgment Day":
"Sinner, oh sinner,
Where will you stand,
In that great day when God's a-going to rain down fire?"
These poems are short and the book can be read quickly. But they will have a long-lived impact on the reader. This book would make an excellent introduction to poetry for young people. And Johnson has given a lasting and eloquent treatment to the art and spirit of the African-American preacher.
Robin Friedman
James Weldon Johnson (1871 -- 1938) is best-known as the author of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the "Negro National Anthem" written in 1900 for Lincoln's birthday. Johnson had extraordinary gifts as a poet. His celebration of the African-American preacher in "God's Trombones", published in 1927, is a masterpiece of American poetry.
Johnson was inspired to write "God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse " after hearing a stirring African-American preacher in Kansas City in 1918. Johnson wrote seven free-verse poems on biblical themes to capture the rhythm, content, language and religious commitment of the preacher. Johnson also wrote a celebrated prose introduction to the book in which he described the place of the preacher in African-American life and explained his decision not to use dialect in writing the poems. Johnson also explained why he used the trombone as the guiding figure of his poem. Johnson wrote of his experience with the Kansas City preacher:
"He strode the pulpit up and down in what was actually a very rhythmic voice, a voice -- what shall I say? -- not of an organ or a trumpet, but rather of a trombone, the instrument possessing above all others the power to express the wide and varied range of emotions encompassed by the human voice -- and with greater amplitude. He intoned, he moaned, he pleaded, -- he blared, he crashed, he thundered. ... [T]he emotional effect upon me was irresistible."
The poetry opens with a short preliminary call to prayer, "Listen, Lord" followed by the seven sermons. The sermons open with the preacher's account of "The Creation"; and they conclude with a sermon on the end of days, "The Judgment Day". Four of the remaining poems deal with Biblical subjects, "The Prodigal Son", "Noah Built the Ark", "The Crucifixion", and "Let my People Go", the story of the Exodus from Egypt. The remaining sermon "Go down death -- a Funeral Sermon" is a meditation on the death of an elderly woman in Georgia who, in the preacher's language, is carried by Death to the throne of Jesus. The poems are in free verse, move in an elevated and lively style, include vivid imagery, and a sense of rhythmic speech and propulsion. It is useful to read them aloud. The poems make use effective use of repetition. Look at "The Crucifixion", for example, and see the many different adjectives Johnson applies to the figure of Jesus. The opening lines of the first three stanzas alone refer to "my gentle Jesus", "my burdened Jesus" and "my sorrowing Jesus". Each of the poems conclude with a short and effective exhortation to the listener. Thus, in the final words of the final poem, "The Judgment Day":
"Sinner, oh sinner,
Where will you stand,
In that great day when God's a-going to rain down fire?"
These poems are short and the book can be read quickly. But they will have a long-lived impact on the reader. This book would make an excellent introduction to poetry for young people. And Johnson has given a lasting and eloquent treatment to the art and spirit of the African-American preacher.
Robin Friedman
March 15, 2021
James Weldon Johnson has penned some eight sermons in verse following the style of a 'Negro Spiritual.' [I never approve of the word Negro. But as it is found in the text and because J W Johnson used it to identify rightly what he wanted to say, I stick to it wherever I think it is necessary. As I was never in US, my judgment can be wrong. My apologies].
They are Biblical in themes and blending with the Black experience in US as slaves they evoke powerful emotions.
These verse-sermons are modeled after folk creations (something relating to oral poetry).
The characteristics of oral poetry are very much prevalent. To read aloud these sermons was a moving and enriching experience. J W Johnson says in the preface that these are to be intoned than to be read. He is right.
The preface is an excellent piece of writing giving the background for the first Negro preachers. And why they chose the verse-sermon format.
The Foreword to the book is by Maya Angelou. That is another excellent short essay in which she reasons out the link between the Afro-Americans, their struggle and the Christianity. Her statement that the Afro-Americans are the ones who REALLY practice Christianity and her reason for it is astounding.
There are eight verse-sermons. They are just lovely and moving. They give you pleasure as you intone them. They move you as you intone them. They give you hope as you intone them. They sustain you with their words and ideas.
I am not a good reviewer for poetry collections. I usually give a poem or two from the collections in the review. But as it is a slim volume and as they run along two or three or four pages, I cannot do that either.
I recommend it wholeheartedly.
Note: This is a Christmas gift (one of the three books) from my dear GR friend (Booklady). The gift had arrived already. The season and the month of December is yet to begin. No regrets reading it earlier as I still have two more books to engage myself in the festive season. Thanks a lot, Cathy.
They are Biblical in themes and blending with the Black experience in US as slaves they evoke powerful emotions.
These verse-sermons are modeled after folk creations (something relating to oral poetry).
The characteristics of oral poetry are very much prevalent. To read aloud these sermons was a moving and enriching experience. J W Johnson says in the preface that these are to be intoned than to be read. He is right.
The preface is an excellent piece of writing giving the background for the first Negro preachers. And why they chose the verse-sermon format.
The Foreword to the book is by Maya Angelou. That is another excellent short essay in which she reasons out the link between the Afro-Americans, their struggle and the Christianity. Her statement that the Afro-Americans are the ones who REALLY practice Christianity and her reason for it is astounding.
There are eight verse-sermons. They are just lovely and moving. They give you pleasure as you intone them. They move you as you intone them. They give you hope as you intone them. They sustain you with their words and ideas.
I am not a good reviewer for poetry collections. I usually give a poem or two from the collections in the review. But as it is a slim volume and as they run along two or three or four pages, I cannot do that either.
I recommend it wholeheartedly.
Note: This is a Christmas gift (one of the three books) from my dear GR friend (Booklady). The gift had arrived already. The season and the month of December is yet to begin. No regrets reading it earlier as I still have two more books to engage myself in the festive season. Thanks a lot, Cathy.
December 7, 2013
I've had this wonderful little book on my shelves for years, but had never read it from cover to cover, and had never read Johnson's preface. Today I picked it up on a whim and read the whole thing in one short sitting. The poems, based on the style of African-American preachers, are excellent, entertaining, and moving. The preface is equally strong, making a case that black preaching is a folk art worthy of preservation.
See if you can read "Go Down Death - A Funeral Sermon" without getting a lump in your throat, no matter what your theology. Here's an excerpt:
And God sat back on his throne,
And he commanded the tall, bright angel standing at his right hand:
Call me Death!
And that tall, bright angel called in a voice
That broke like a clap of thunder:
Call Death! -- Call Death!
And the echo sounded down the streets of heaven
Till it reached away back to that shadowy place,
Where Death waits with his pale, white horses.
And Death heard the summons,
And he leaped on his fastest horse,
Pale as a sheet in the moonlight.
Up the golden street Death galloped,
And the hoofs of his horse struck fire from the gold,
But they didn't make no sound.
Up Death rode to the Great White Throne,
And waited for God's command.
And God said: Go down, Death, go down,
Go down to Savannah, Georgia,
Down in Yamacraw,
And find Sister Caroline.
She's borne the burden and heat of the day,
She's labored long in my vineyard,
And she's tired --
She's weary --
Go down Death, and bring her to me.
See if you can read "Go Down Death - A Funeral Sermon" without getting a lump in your throat, no matter what your theology. Here's an excerpt:
And God sat back on his throne,
And he commanded the tall, bright angel standing at his right hand:
Call me Death!
And that tall, bright angel called in a voice
That broke like a clap of thunder:
Call Death! -- Call Death!
And the echo sounded down the streets of heaven
Till it reached away back to that shadowy place,
Where Death waits with his pale, white horses.
And Death heard the summons,
And he leaped on his fastest horse,
Pale as a sheet in the moonlight.
Up the golden street Death galloped,
And the hoofs of his horse struck fire from the gold,
But they didn't make no sound.
Up Death rode to the Great White Throne,
And waited for God's command.
And God said: Go down, Death, go down,
Go down to Savannah, Georgia,
Down in Yamacraw,
And find Sister Caroline.
She's borne the burden and heat of the day,
She's labored long in my vineyard,
And she's tired --
She's weary --
Go down Death, and bring her to me.
June 24, 2022
These wonderful poems have long been favorites of mine. James Weldon Johnson was a true scholar and artist.
July 31, 2019
The Preface by Johnson was the engaging element, establishing the foundations of the black church, much like Chadwick's work on the first Christians: what else to do with the wolf at the door?
The sermons are lyrical--they live essentially pre-heard , nascent within us. Ancient stories adjusted for local preference. Sometimes I wish I had a spiritual inclination, not often--but certainly sometimes. I was listening to Count Basie, if that helps. The cadence outreaches the eschatology. That could be catch phrase for my life.
The sermons are lyrical--they live essentially pre-heard , nascent within us. Ancient stories adjusted for local preference. Sometimes I wish I had a spiritual inclination, not often--but certainly sometimes. I was listening to Count Basie, if that helps. The cadence outreaches the eschatology. That could be catch phrase for my life.
September 19, 2024
Seven verse interpretations of classic bible stories. I was hoping for a couple perhaps more obscure stories, these are ones I think even non-religious people would have heard a million times. My favourite were the ones that don't just summarize a bible story (Listen Lord, Funeral Sermon)
My edition has really cool typography for each title and a nice art piece.
Listen Lord
The Creation
The Prodigal Son
Go Down Death - a Funeral Sermon
Noah Built the Ark
The Crucifixion
Let My People Go (Moses)
The Judgement Day
My edition has really cool typography for each title and a nice art piece.
Listen Lord
The Creation
The Prodigal Son
Go Down Death - a Funeral Sermon
Noah Built the Ark
The Crucifixion
Let My People Go (Moses)
The Judgement Day
December 31, 2022
Young man -
Young man-
You’re never lonesome in Babylon.
You can always join a crowd in Babylon.
Young man -
Young man -
You can never be alone in Babylon,
Alone with your Jesus in Babylon.
You can never find a place, a lonesome place,
A lonesome place to go down on your knees,
And talk with your God, in Babylon.
You’re always in a crowd in Babylon.
- excerpt from The Prodigal Son
Young man-
You’re never lonesome in Babylon.
You can always join a crowd in Babylon.
Young man -
Young man -
You can never be alone in Babylon,
Alone with your Jesus in Babylon.
You can never find a place, a lonesome place,
A lonesome place to go down on your knees,
And talk with your God, in Babylon.
You’re always in a crowd in Babylon.
- excerpt from The Prodigal Son
December 12, 2023
Beautifully written. James Weldon Johnson's collection of seven Negro sermons in verse was a joy to read and each poem must be read aloud to get the full power and effect of the words.
February 9, 2022
Should have read this before I shaved. Chills.
February 27, 2023
We come this morning—
Like empty pitchers to a full fountain,
With no merits of our own.
Like empty pitchers to a full fountain,
With no merits of our own.
October 23, 2018
"Young man--
Young man--
Your arm's too short to box with God."
I think you should read these poems.
Other than that they give me chills and I want to hear them performed on stage, I don't really have much else to say about the whole situation. Read the poems, is what I'm saying.
Young man--
Your arm's too short to box with God."
I think you should read these poems.
Other than that they give me chills and I want to hear them performed on stage, I don't really have much else to say about the whole situation. Read the poems, is what I'm saying.
April 1, 2024
Until recently, all I knew about James Weldon Johnson was that he wrote the lyrics to "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" (his brother, John Rosamond Johnson, wrote the music) which the NAACP called the "Negro National Anthem." Included in many American hymnals, its opening verse is familiar: "Lift ev'ry voice and sing, 'til earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of liberty / Let our rejoicing rise, high as the list'ning skies, let it resound loud as the rolling sea / Sing a song full of faith that the dark past has taught us / Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us / Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, let us march on 'til victory is won."
Johnson was remarkably diverse in his talents and their application: He was a civil rights activist, a poet, a novelist, a lyricist, executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a lawyer, diplomat, and US ambassador, university professor, a member of Theodore Roosevelt's successful presidential campaign, public speaker, newspaper editor, and lobbyist.
A writer of some note himself, he was involved in and committed to The Harlem Renaissance. He recollected sermons delivered by Black preachers in a distinctive style variously described as rhythmic, chanting, whooping, vernacular, intimate, and songlike. He adopted this style to write seven poems in the African-American religious oratorical tradition. These were published in 1927 as "God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse."
The reference in the title to trombones is based on Johnson's belief that the range of the slide trombone most closely resembled that of the human voice. There was a sense in which, he thought, the preacher became God's voice speaking to the congregation. Inside that understanding, God "played" the preacher like a musician played a trombone.
The "articles" of the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed taken together compose a brief synopsis of the Christian faith. In much the same way, the sermons/poems included in "God's Trombones" are catechetical: "The Creation," "Noah Built the Ark," "Let My People Go," "The Prodigal Son," "The Crucifixion," "Go Down Death: A Funeral Sermon," and "The Judgment Day."
Readers who have never experienced hearing a preacher in the Black sermonic tradition might do well to listen to one or two of this sort on-line: Rev. C.L. Franklin, Rev. J.M. Gates, Rev. W.M. Mosley, and Rev. E.S. "Shy" Moore. It is easier and more edifying to read Johnson's sermon-poems while imagining the voice of a Black preacher in the 1920s.
Johnson was remarkably diverse in his talents and their application: He was a civil rights activist, a poet, a novelist, a lyricist, executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a lawyer, diplomat, and US ambassador, university professor, a member of Theodore Roosevelt's successful presidential campaign, public speaker, newspaper editor, and lobbyist.
A writer of some note himself, he was involved in and committed to The Harlem Renaissance. He recollected sermons delivered by Black preachers in a distinctive style variously described as rhythmic, chanting, whooping, vernacular, intimate, and songlike. He adopted this style to write seven poems in the African-American religious oratorical tradition. These were published in 1927 as "God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse."
The reference in the title to trombones is based on Johnson's belief that the range of the slide trombone most closely resembled that of the human voice. There was a sense in which, he thought, the preacher became God's voice speaking to the congregation. Inside that understanding, God "played" the preacher like a musician played a trombone.
The "articles" of the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed taken together compose a brief synopsis of the Christian faith. In much the same way, the sermons/poems included in "God's Trombones" are catechetical: "The Creation," "Noah Built the Ark," "Let My People Go," "The Prodigal Son," "The Crucifixion," "Go Down Death: A Funeral Sermon," and "The Judgment Day."
Readers who have never experienced hearing a preacher in the Black sermonic tradition might do well to listen to one or two of this sort on-line: Rev. C.L. Franklin, Rev. J.M. Gates, Rev. W.M. Mosley, and Rev. E.S. "Shy" Moore. It is easier and more edifying to read Johnson's sermon-poems while imagining the voice of a Black preacher in the 1920s.
June 2, 2023
I've read this before, a couple of years ago, but I wanted to revisit it after completing the epic "African American Poetry" collection edited by Kevin Young. This is a short collection of poems, based around sermons given by Black preachers, which reflects the ties between spiritual beliefs and language in the Black church. James Weldon Johnson, who is probably best remembered today for writing "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (the Black national anthem), is the author of this work, and it's a great and short collection of poems.
February 29, 2024
Good read. Very poetic. I wish there were references to the Bible chapters and verses that inspired each sermon.
October 15, 2025
With excellent introductions and the 7 sermons themselves this was a joy to read and I would love to hear them recited. A great, tiny, African American classic.
August 25, 2022
James Weldon Johnson was an important civil rights activist who headed the NAACP from 1920 to 1930. He was also an author who wrote the lyrics of "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" and edited anthologies of black poems and spirituals.
In God's Trombones, Johnson takes classic sermon topics and uses free verse to present them in the style of the black preachers he heard in his youth. Three of the sermons are based on the Christian Bible and three are based on the Jewish Bible ("The Creation," "Noah Built the Ark," and "Let My People Go"). Another sermon imagines God instructing Death to go down to the world in order to end the suffering of an old and sick woman so that she can join God in Heaven. (There's also a prayer that asks God to inspire the preacher. It reminds me a little of the Jewish prayer "Hineni" that asks God to help the cantor.)
Johnson admits in the preface that words on a page cannot do justice to the atmosphere of an oral sermon, so "These poems would better be intoned than read." For this reason, I'd recommend not just reading "The Creation", but also watching or listening to it being intoned. Wintley Phipps performs it here.
In God's Trombones, Johnson takes classic sermon topics and uses free verse to present them in the style of the black preachers he heard in his youth. Three of the sermons are based on the Christian Bible and three are based on the Jewish Bible ("The Creation," "Noah Built the Ark," and "Let My People Go"). Another sermon imagines God instructing Death to go down to the world in order to end the suffering of an old and sick woman so that she can join God in Heaven. (There's also a prayer that asks God to inspire the preacher. It reminds me a little of the Jewish prayer "Hineni" that asks God to help the cantor.)
Johnson admits in the preface that words on a page cannot do justice to the atmosphere of an oral sermon, so "These poems would better be intoned than read." For this reason, I'd recommend not just reading "The Creation", but also watching or listening to it being intoned. Wintley Phipps performs it here.
May 15, 2014
This book has been on my shelf for years. Most recently it has served as a door stop for our bedroom door to keep out our conniving tortoiseshell cat who is known for busting in the bedroom at 3:00 in the morning with her loud purrs and tendency to burrow under the covers and crowd you in the bed. Why this book? Because of it's perfect thickness.
Yesterday I decided that it was time to read the book. I discovered it was a gift from the deacons of our church to my father as he was enjoying one of his all too short remissions from the leukemia which eventually killed him in 1977. Suddenly it has become a very precious book for me.
Unfortunately our tortoiseshell noticed immediately that the door was not secure (or she noticed which book I was reading which led to her successful investigation). Yes, at 3:00 this morning in she comes with all her early morning annoying features in place. Craig was very upset and proceeded (at 3 am in the morning) to try to find a replacement book doorstop. It was very clear that he was blaming me and had expected me to return my bedtime read to it's former place on the floor as a cat repellent.
I think it's time I go by Home Depot and pick up a proper door stop to protect my daddy's book and to keep peace in the home.
I'll add a proper review when I've completed it.
Yesterday I decided that it was time to read the book. I discovered it was a gift from the deacons of our church to my father as he was enjoying one of his all too short remissions from the leukemia which eventually killed him in 1977. Suddenly it has become a very precious book for me.
Unfortunately our tortoiseshell noticed immediately that the door was not secure (or she noticed which book I was reading which led to her successful investigation). Yes, at 3:00 this morning in she comes with all her early morning annoying features in place. Craig was very upset and proceeded (at 3 am in the morning) to try to find a replacement book doorstop. It was very clear that he was blaming me and had expected me to return my bedtime read to it's former place on the floor as a cat repellent.
I think it's time I go by Home Depot and pick up a proper door stop to protect my daddy's book and to keep peace in the home.
I'll add a proper review when I've completed it.
July 5, 2011
Excellent! This is a Penguin Classic, reprinted in 2008 from the original in 1927. It presents seven inspiring Negro sermons in verse.
A thought-provoking statement comes from the Forward: “African Americans are the only people in the whole world and history who really practice Christianity.” No one else has ever found in their hearts the gift of forgiveness, the Forward claims. African Americans forgave the slave owners who worked them without payment for 240 years. This ability to forgive made many former slave owners uneasy, so incomprehensible was their forgiveness.
These transplanted Africans accepted Jesus as their savior and laid all their worries on him. God’s trombones—the old time Negro preachers—were powerful, eloquent figures in their community. A community surviving on hope. When the lyricists wrote, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, coming for to carry me home,” neither the singer nor the audience had to tax their imagination to consider death a sweet chariot or to doubt that heaven was their destination. When the folk-sermon was in full swing, a rhythmic dance to the beat of powerful voice, an electric current passed through the congregation.
You don’t want to miss these seven poetic sermons.
A thought-provoking statement comes from the Forward: “African Americans are the only people in the whole world and history who really practice Christianity.” No one else has ever found in their hearts the gift of forgiveness, the Forward claims. African Americans forgave the slave owners who worked them without payment for 240 years. This ability to forgive made many former slave owners uneasy, so incomprehensible was their forgiveness.
These transplanted Africans accepted Jesus as their savior and laid all their worries on him. God’s trombones—the old time Negro preachers—were powerful, eloquent figures in their community. A community surviving on hope. When the lyricists wrote, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, coming for to carry me home,” neither the singer nor the audience had to tax their imagination to consider death a sweet chariot or to doubt that heaven was their destination. When the folk-sermon was in full swing, a rhythmic dance to the beat of powerful voice, an electric current passed through the congregation.
You don’t want to miss these seven poetic sermons.
August 5, 2015
Originally published in 1927, God’s Trombones features seven popular African-American sermons structured as poems. As Mr. Johnson writes in his introduction, his decision to write them as verse is to capture the lyrical, rhythmic style frequently used by African-American preachers. The result is a lovely collection with a cadence and energy that jumps off the page. My one complaint is that I wish there were more. For those interested in either the historic or religious, this book is worth a read. Highly recommended.
A note that I read an older edition of this book, which included both an introduction by Mr. Weldon and drawings by Aaron Douglas.
A note that I read an older edition of this book, which included both an introduction by Mr. Weldon and drawings by Aaron Douglas.
August 26, 2011
contains one of the most beautiful poems i've ever read..."Go Down Death (A Funeral Sermon)." i can only believe that Mr. Johnson *had* to have been overcome with Spirit when creating this phenomenal work. the clarity and strength of the images that spring up from his words is unbelievable.
i've recited "Go Down Death" at the funerals for both of my grandmothers. even now, just reading it casually, i still get emotional just before the end of the poem.
i've recited "Go Down Death" at the funerals for both of my grandmothers. even now, just reading it casually, i still get emotional just before the end of the poem.
November 29, 2017
Interesting filtering of Bible stories, through the voices of pre-civil rights black preachers, through Johnson's elegant but forceful poetry.
I find it interesting that these are mostly Old Testament tales -- an angry, vengeful God. These preachers and their congregations were so profoundly sinned against; perhaps that made the idea of salvation for the good and hellfire for the evil particularly attractive.
I find it interesting that these are mostly Old Testament tales -- an angry, vengeful God. These preachers and their congregations were so profoundly sinned against; perhaps that made the idea of salvation for the good and hellfire for the evil particularly attractive.
May 19, 2011
Here in poetic form, James Weldon Johnson has captured the rhythms and cadence of the black preacher. "The Creation" was once memorized and recited at the graduations at segregated "colored" schools. This is the same man who wrote "Lift Every Voice and Sing", the Black National Anthem. This is a real African American classic.
June 5, 2017
My favorite short book of poetry ... Truly it's the sort of book that begs to be read aloud ... It's been a while since I first read these sermons in verse, but I plan to add to my list of books to be re-read on a regular basis this marvelous, slender volume ...
March 8, 2008
What an incredible book of sermons! The imagery is incredible! loved this book, have read it twice so far
July 15, 2008
It was like being in church (and suddenly made me wish to go).
April 10, 2011
I really enjoyed this. There are some striking phrases here -- e.g. "your arm's too short to box with God."
April 17, 2012
This is a marvelous little book. The sermons were some I had heard as a child, and they were such an inspiration to me. This book is a treasure.
February 26, 2021
Young man--
Young man--
Your arm’s too short to box with God.
God’s Trombones by James Weldon Johnson is simultaneously homily, poetry, and anthropology. In these eight poems, Johnson tells the creation story, the story of Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egypt, the story of the prodigal son, a funeral sermon, and more.
But beyond retelling these stories, Johnson attempts to record and preserve the language of the Black preachers of the late 19th and early 20th century. “I claim no more for these poems than that I have written them after the manner of the primitive sermons,” Johnson writes in the introduction, adding, “These poems would better be intoned than read.” Johnson set out to capture the language of these preachers, without alternating the spelling/dialect of the writing to reflect the Black dialects of the time, “To place in the mouths of the talented old-time Negro preachers a language that is a literary imitation of Mississippi cotton-field dialect is sheer burlesque.”
The language we find in God’s Trombones is highly poetical, carefully structured, but done so to reflect a highly elevated conversational language. It’s masterfully accomplished--like a powerful sermon whose preacher has labored carefully in his craft. Johnson discusses his methods in the introduction, stating: “The tempos of the preacher I have endeavored to indicate by the line arrangement of the poems...There is a decided syncopation of speech -- the crowding in of many syllables or the lengthening out of a few to fill one metrical foot, the sensing of which must be left to the reader's ear.”
Johnson elaborates about word choice, saying:
“Gross exaggeration of the use of big words by these preachers, in fact by Negroes in general, has been commonly made; the laugh being at the exhibition of ignorance involved. What is the basis of this fondness for big words? Is the predilection due, as is supposed, to ignorance desiring to parade itself as knowledge? Not at all. The old-time Negro preacher loved the sonorous, mouth-filling, ear-filling phrase because it gratified a highly developed sense of sound and rhythm in himself and his hearers.”
Reading this introduction, helped me see the link between these old sermons, and contemporary Black music, especially rap music which uses on average more words and “bigger” words than other forms of contemporary popular music.
I will admit to being moved by several of the pieces in God’s Trombones , especially “The Prodigal Son.” Johnson’s retelling of this famous bible parable takes some poetic license, alternating the original. For example, there is no mention of the brother who stays with the father and is “good,” working in his fathers fields, etc. The story is all about the prodigal, and the Father’s joy at his return. Why talk about the “good” brother, when we are all the sinful brother anyway? I don’t know if that was Johnson’s point, but it resonated with me. There is no need to dwell on the brother who feels angry that he doesn’t get a big party. Instead, we need to seek the joy that comes from turning away from our idols and vainglory and embracing the love that conquers death.
Young man --
Young man --
You're never lonesome in Babylon.
You can always join a crowd in Babylon.
Young man --
Young man --
You can never be alone in Babylon,
Alone with your Jesus in Babylon.
You can never find a place, a lonesome place,
A lonesome place to go down on your knees,
And talk with your God, in Babylon.
You're always in a crowd in Babylon.
…
Oh-o-oh, sinner,
When you're mingling with the crowd in Babylon --
Drinking the wine of Babylon --
Running with the women of Babylon --
You forget about God, and you laugh at Death.
Today you've got the strength of a bull in your neck
And the strength of a bear in your arms,
But some o' these days, some o' these days,
You'll have a hand-to-hand struggle with bony Death,
And Death is bound to win.
The writing is powerful, but brief. Johnson’s sermons leave us with the hope we need to combat the fear of our existence. He writes in such a way that these sermons are timeless. This book is available online for free here: https://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/joh... It only takes about 30 minutes to read the entire book and the introduction. It’s well worth the time.
June 16, 2022
Johnson writes in his introduction that "the old-time Negro preacher is rapidly passing. I have here tried sincerely to fix something of him." Like other writers of the early 20th century connected with the Harlem Renaissance, Johnson was interested in exploring the history of African-American culture, editing collections of poetry and spirituals, as well as creating culture for his own time. He saw the traditional black preacher as critical in the development of black culture: "It was through him that the people of diverse languages and customs who were brought here from diverse parts of Africa and thrown into slavery were given their first sense of unity and solidarity." As Johnson sees it, this leadership was key in the development of black churches, the most important cultural institution in African-American life. They even provided the environment for the creation of the spirituals, which were often (in my understanding) viewed by black cultural leaders as the crowning cultural achievement of black people during enslavement.
You can read the poems and see artwork from the original publication here: https://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/joh...
You can read the poems and see artwork from the original publication here: https://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/joh...
May 31, 2023
At some point in my 40s, I finally got around to reading the Old Testament. I was raised in an ex-Catholic household so my knowledge of the Bible was basically gleaned from watching movies like "The Ten Commandments" and "Jesus Christ Superstar." Neither prepared me for the scarier aspects of the Good Book with its stories of incest, plague, and murder. I mention this because "God's Trombones" hits on many of that holy text's better-known stories -- Noah's ark, Moses' exodus, the fall of Adam and Eve -- without causing outright nightmares per its source. To the contrary, Johnson's retellings relate the wrath of God with a promise of deliverance. The author may profess, in his intro, to have written this poem cycle as a way to record a passing phenomenon (a certain kind of preacher) but his octet of verses feels no more archival than Browning's "Sonnets for the Portuguese" or Poe's "The Raven." The language's formality feels more intentional than dated. Now I'm just wondering -- since the last two poems consider the crucifixion and judgment day, should I take on the New Testament too? I've heard it's still pretty popular.
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