Fifty years & Other Poems

'Fifty Years and Other Poems' is a timeless collection of African American poetry by James Weldon Johnson, a prominent writer and civil rights activist during the Harlem Renaissance. Johnson's reputation as a writer was solidified through his works, including poems, novels, and anthologies that collect the poems and spirituals of black culture. Some of these works are featured in this book, including the following titles: 'Mother Night', 'The Suicide', and 'Prayer at Sunrise'. Here's an excerpt from 'Mother Night': "Eternities before the first-born day / Or ere the first sun fledged his wings of flame / Calm Night, the everlasting and the same / A brooding mother over chaos lay."