Caroling Dusk
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''Caroling Dusk: An Anthology of Verse by Black Poets of the Twenties: Anthology of Black Verse'' is a 1927 poetry anthology that was edited by
Countee Cullen Countee Cullen (born Countee LeRoy Porter; May 30, 1903 – January 9, 1946) was an American poet, novelist, children's writer, and playwright, particularly well known during the Harlem Renaissance. Early life Childhood Countee LeRoy Porter ...
. It has been republished at least three times, in 1955, 1974, and 1995 and included works by thirty-eight
African-American poets African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, including
Paul Laurence Dunbar Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American C ...
,
Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...
,
Georgia Douglas Johnson Georgia Blanche Douglas Camp Johnson, better known as Georgia Douglas Johnson (September 10, 1880 – May 15, 1966), was a poet and playwright. She was one of the earliest female African-American playwrights, and an important figure of the Harle ...
,
James Weldon Johnson James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871June 26, 1938) was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ...
, and
Claude McKay Festus Claudius "Claude" McKay OJ (September 15, 1890See Wayne F. Cooper, ''Claude McKay, Rebel Sojourner In The Harlem Renaissance'' (New York, Schocken, 1987) p. 377 n. 19. As Cooper's authoritative biography explains, McKay's family predate ...
. The anthology also includes biographical sketches of the poets whose work is included in the book.


Background

The
Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African-American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics, and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the ti ...
was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American life centered in
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...
,
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. A major aspect of this revival was poetry. Hundreds of poems were written and published by African Americans during the era, which covered a wide variety of themes. The
Poetry Foundation The Poetry Foundation is a United States literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from ''Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthrop ...
wrote that poets in the Harlem Renaissance "explored the beauty and pain of black life and sought to define themselves and their community outside of white stereotypes." Poets such as
Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...
,
James Weldon Johnson James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871June 26, 1938) was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ...
, and
Countee Cullen Countee Cullen (born Countee LeRoy Porter; May 30, 1903 – January 9, 1946) was an American poet, novelist, children's writer, and playwright, particularly well known during the Harlem Renaissance. Early life Childhood Countee LeRoy Porter ...
became well known for their poetry, which was often inspired by jazz. The poetry of the era was published in several different ways, notably in the form of anthologies. '' The Book of American Negro Poetry'' (1922), '' Negro Poets and Their Poems'' (1923), '' An Anthology of Verse by American Negroes'' (1924), and ''Caroling Dusk'' (1927) have been cited as four major poetry anthologies of the Harlem Renaissance.


Publication details

Cullen, who felt that poetry was "instrumental to the cultural development of a race," edited the anthology when he was twenty-four years old. ''Caroling Dusk'' was published in 1927 by
Harper & Brothers Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship Imprint (trade name), imprint of global publisher HarperCollins, based in New York City. Founded in New York in 1817 by James Harper (publisher), James Harper and his brother John, the compan ...
. Upon publication, it included works by thirty-eight African-American poets. It was republished at least three times, in 1955, 1974 (by
Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins, based in New York City. Founded in New York in 1817 by James Harper and his brother John, the company operated as J. & J. Harper until 1833, when ...
), and 1995. The anthology also includes biographical sketches of the poets whose work is included in the book. These sketches had generally been written by the poets which they were about.


Works included

Of the thirty-eight poets whose work is in ''Caroling Dusk'', thirteen were women. Lula Lowe Weeden was the youngest poet included in the anthology, at nine years old. She stopped writing poetry as a teenager.


Reception

The anthology was described as being "critically acclaimed". A review in the ''
American Journal of Sociology The ''American Journal of Sociology'' is a peer-reviewed bi-monthly academic journal that publishes original research and book reviews in the field of sociology and related social sciences. It was founded in 1895 as the first journal in its disci ...
'' noted that Cullen had tried to "direct attention to some of the younger and less-known Negro writers." A contemporary review that appeared in the ''
Sioux City Journal The ''Sioux City Journal'' is the daily newspaper and website of Sioux City, Iowa. Founded in 1864, the publication now covers northwestern Iowa and portions of Nebraska and South Dakota. The Journal has won numerous state, regional and nation ...
'' noted that "Negroes must derive much satisfaction out of the fact these 38 men and women and girls and boys of their race are spinning verses much better than the verses many of their white brethren spin." The reviewer noted that the "never shall forget" some of the poems included. In 1974 a column in ''
The American Poetry Review ''The American Poetry Review'' (''APR'') is an American poetry magazine printed every other month on tabloid-sized newsprint. It was founded in 1972 by Stephen Berg and Stephen Parker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The magazine's editor is Elizab ...
'' that was written by the poet
June Jordan June Millicent Jordan (July 9, 1936 – June 14, 2002) was an American poet, essayist, teacher, and activist. In her writing she explored issues of gender, race, immigration, and representation. Jordan was passionate about using Black English ...
covered the anthology. Jordan said she was "extremely delighted to recommend" the collection because of the poets it included. She continued to say that there was "much to cherish" in the anthology, including its compiler (although he almost excessively promoted himself). Jordan criticized some of the poems for lacking substance and not attempting to create a "distinctively Black poem." She concluded by praising the view the anthology presented into the era when it was published. That same year a reviewer in the ''
Kansas City Times The ''Kansas City Times'' was a morning newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri, published from 1867 to 1990. The morning ''Kansas City Times'', under ownership of the afternoon '' Kansas City Star'', won two Pulitzer Prizes and was bigger than its ...
'' described the anthology as "a delight and a joy" and the author, professor Girard T. Bryant, considered that "perhaps no other anthology of poetry by black poets has ever equaled it."


References


Bibliography

*


External links

* * Full text of
Caroling Dusk
' at HathiTrust Digital Library * {{Google books, TFAGAQAAIAAJ, Caroling Dusk American poetry anthologies 1927 books