Gods Trombones, James Weldon Johnson
Gods Trombones, James Weldon Johnson
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God's Trombones
Seven Negro Sermons in Verse

Author: James Weldon Johnson

Narrator: Various

Unabridged: 1 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 09/17/2008

Synopsis

Introduced by Maya Angelou, the inspiring sermon-poems of James Weldon Johnson 

James Weldon Johnson was a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance, and one of the most revered African Americans of all time, whose life demonstrated the full spectrum of struggle and success. In God's Trombones, one of his most celebrated works, inspirational sermons of African American preachers are reimagined as poetry, reverberating with the musicality and splendid eloquence of the spirituals. This classic collection includes "Listen Lord (A Prayer)," "The Creation," "The Prodigal Son," "Go Down Death (A Funeral Sermon)," "Noah Built the Ark," "The Crucifixion," "Let My People Go," and "The Judgment Day."

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

About The Author

James Weldon Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1871. Among the first to break through the barriers segregating his race, he was educated at Atlanta University and at Columbia and was the first black admitted to the Florida bar. He was also, for a time, a songwriter in New York, American consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua, executive secretary of the NAACP, and professor of creative literature at Fisk University—experiences recorded in his autobiography,Along This Way. Other books by him include Saint Peter Relates an Incident,Black Manhattan, and God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse. In addition to his own writing, Johnson was the editor of pioneering anthologies of black American poetry and spirituals. He died in 1938.

Reviews

Goodreads review by robin

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"......more

Goodreads review by Dhanaraj

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 w......more

Goodreads review by Jeff

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, ente......more

Goodreads review by Laurel

These wonderful poems have long been favorites of mine. James Weldon Johnson was a true scholar and artist.......more

Goodreads review by Jonfaith

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......more

Quotes

“[Johnson ] is a distinguished and intelligent poet. . . . There is sensitivity, artistic judgment, and a sustained emotional beauty in his work." —The New York Times

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