Caroling Dusk: An Anthology of Verse by Black Poets of the Twenties

by Countee Cullen

This selection from the work of thirty-eight poets was made by Countee Cullen in 1927. His stated purpose at the time was to bring together a miscellany of deeply appreciated but scattered verse. Beginning with the work of Paul Laurence Dunbar, who, though there were black poets before him, is generally credited as the first black poet to make a deep impression on the literary world, the book includes the writings of James Weldon Johnson, W. E. B. Du Bois, Jessie Faucet, Sterling A. Brown, Arna Bontemps, Langston Hughes, and Countee Cullen himself, to name only a few. Each poem includes poignant biographical notes written by the poets themselves, with the exception of the notes on Dunbar (written by his wife), Joseph S. Cotter, Jr. (written by his father), and Lula Weeden (written by her mother). Most of the poets became well known and widely published in the years that followed. These poems remain powerful statements of what it means to be human, whatever the race. Long out of print, "Caroling Dusk" is a valuable addition to the body of black literature. This is the first time the anthology has appeared in a paperback edition.

Genres: Poetry, Anthologies, African American

264 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1955

About the author

Countee Cullen was was an American poet who was a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance. He was raised in a Methodist parsonage. He attended De Witt Clinton High School in New York and began writing poetry at the age of fourteen.

In 1922, Cullen entered New York University. His poems were published in The Crisis, under the leadership of W. E. B. Du Bois, and Opportunity, a magazine of the National Urban League. He was soon after published in Harper's, the Century Magazine, and Poetry. He won several awards for his poem, "Ballad of the Brown Girl," and graduated from New York University in 1923. That same year, Harper published his first volume of verse, Color, and he was admitted to Harvard University where he completed a master's degree.

His second volume of poetry, Copper Sun (1927), met with controversy in the black community because Cullen did not give the subject of race the same attention he had given it in Color. He was raised and educated in a primarily white community, and he differed from other poets of the Harlem Renaissance like Langston Hughes in that he lacked the background to comment from personal experience on the lives of other blacks or use popular black themes in his writing. An imaginative lyric poet, he wrote in the tradition of Keats and Shelley and was resistant to the new poetic techniques of the Modernists. He died in 1946.

Reviews

[BJ Lillis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caroling Dusk is an extraordinary book. A poetry anthology edited by Countee Cullen in 1927, the height of the Harlem Renaissance and peak of the roaring twenties. Somehow, I loved almost every single poem. The volume includes 38 poets, from old men born in the 1870s to the bravura closing performance of the extraordinary 9-year-old Lula Lowe Weeden, born 1918.

Short biographical notes written by each poet introduce their work, and these capsule autobiographies are as wonderful as the poems themselves. The breadth of life experience, from high government office, to careers in the arts, music, entertainment, or education, to—in Richard Bruce’s case—“errand boy for ten dollars [a week], bell hop in an all-womens’ hotel for eleven fifty-five, eighteen with tips, secretary and confidence man for a modiste for twenty-five, ornamental iron-worker and designer for twenty-eight, and elevator operator for thirty. Then I had the mumps and despite the glamor of New York, I wanted to go, just go somewhere. So I went to Panama working my way.” Or Virginian Anne Spencer, who writes: “Mother Nature, February, forty-five years ago forced me on the stage that I, in turn, might assume the role of lonely child, happy wife, perplexed mother—and, so far, a twice resentful grandmother. I have no academic honors, nor lodge regalia.”

There is little point in quoting from the poetry. No piece could possibly begin to represent the whole. The breadth of style, tone, and voice is extraordinary—as is a certain unplaceable unity that seems to come from a shared time, a shared historical context. I thought I would enjoy this book as a time capsule from a moment in American history; instead, I fell in love with it as a collection of some of the best poetry I’ve read.

[Sonnet Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have probably read 5 or 6 thousand books in my life, and of all of them, this one stands out as my favorite. I was assigned this book for a literature class 20+ years ago in college and I haven't put it down since. I keep it with me like a lover, reading it over and over, and every time it makes me weep. It's intense and powerful and incredibly beautiful. Countee Cullen's works are my favorites, but I am hard pressed to make a decision. Different artists speak to me in different moods or circumstances. The authors seem vibrant, modern, alive in these pages.

In my opinion, everyone would benefit from giving this book a read, but it's probably especially meaningful for poetry lovers or those with an interest in AA literature. It's a true gem and a standout among poetry collections.

[Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read a *gorgeous* (through terrifyingly fragile) 1927 first edition from the library -- really enjoyed the poems, and Countee Cullen's approach.

[celine · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is so beautiful and interesting to learn about each of these different young artists and what life was like through their eyes 100 years ago