James Weldon Johnson, Fifty Years and Other Poems

Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error
Fifty Years and Other Poems

(1917) was the first book of poetry published by James Weldon Johnson. The book collected poetry that Johnson had been writing since his years as a student at Atlanta University and ranged from serious racial protests to amusing dialect poems which Johnson grouped at the end of the volume under the heading “Jingles and Croons”.

The title poem, “Fifty Years”, was written to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation officially outlawing slavery in the USA and first appeared in the New York Times on January 1, 1913. Reflecting Johnson's moderate approach to racial reform, the poem both praised the strides that had been made by African Americans since the repeal of slavery, asserted their right to full citizenship, and

520 words

Citation: Fleming, Robert E.. "Fifty Years and Other Poems". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 October 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5154, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5154 Fifty Years and Other Poems 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.