God’s Trombones

God’s Trombones, volume of poetry by James Weldon Johnson, published in 1927. The work represents what the author called an “art-governed expression” of the traditional black preaching style. The constituent poems are an introductory prayer, “Listen, Lord—A Prayer,” and seven verse sermons entitled “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.” Although he identified himself as an agnostic, Johnson drew heavily throughout his career from the oral tradition and biblical poetry of his Christian upbringing. In God’s Trombones, he conveys the raw power of fire-and-brimstone oratory while avoiding the hackneyed devices of dialectal transcription that had marred much previous literature that attempted to reflect African American speech.