Heart of a Woman and Other Poems e-bog

The Heart of a Woman and Other Poems (1918) is a collection of poetry by Georgia Douglas Johnson. Marking Johnson's debut as one of the leading poets of the Harlem Renaissance, The Heart of a Woman and Other Poems is an invaluable work of African American literature for scholars and poetry enthusiasts alike. Comprised of Johnson's earliest works as a poet, the collection showcases her sense of the musicality of language while illuminating the experiences of African American women of the early twentieth century. "e;The heart of a woman goes forth with the dawn, / As a lone bird, soft winging, so restlessly on."e; Recalling Paul Laurence Dunbar's classic poem "e;Sympathy,"e; which immortalizes the African American experience with the line "e;I know why the caged bird sings,"e; the title poem of Johnson's collection compares the heart to a bird. Musical and dreamlike, Johnson's poem envisions "e;the heart of a woman"e; as it "e;enters some alien cage in its plight, / And tries to forget it has dreamed of the stars / While it breaks, breaks, breaks on the sheltering bars."e; With each repetition of "e;breaks,"e; the reader can feel the restlessness and fear of the bird as it beats its wings against its cage, the heart as it beats against the "e;sheltering bars"e; of the ribs. In this poem, and throughout the collection, Johnson shows an efficiency with language uncommon to many poets, let alone one making her debut. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Georgia Douglas Johnson's The Heart of a Woman and Other Poems is a classic of African American literature reimagined for modern readers.