Shadowed Dreams: WomenÆs Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance [Paperback]

Maureen Honey (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Fantasy by Gwendolyn B. Bennett
Hatred by Gwendolyn B. Bennett
Heritage by Gwendolyn B. Bennett
Nocturne by Gwendolyn B. Bennett
Quatrain: 2 by Gwendolyn B. Bennett
Secret by Gwendolyn B. Bennett
Song by Gwendolyn B. Bennett
Street Lamps In Early Spring by Gwendolyn B. Bennett
To A Dark Girl by Gwendolyn B. Bennett
To Usward by Gwendolyn B. Bennett
Chalk-dust by Lillian Byrnes
Nordic by Lillian Byrnes
An Old Slave Woman by Joyce Sims Carrington
Last Night by Ethel M. Caution
The River by Ethel M. Caution
To E.j.j. by Ethel M. Caution
Black Baby by Anita Scott Coleman
Black Faces by Anita Scott Coleman
Negro Laughter by Anita Scott Coleman
Portraiture by Anita Scott Coleman
The Shining Parlor by Anita Scott Coleman
After The Japanese by Mae V. Cowdery
A Brown Aesthete Speaks by Mae V. Cowdery
Dusk by Mae V. Cowdery
Exultation by Mae V. Cowdery
Farewell by Mae V. Cowdery
God Is Kind by Mae V. Cowdery
Having Had You by Mae V. Cowdery
Heritage by Mae V. Cowdery
If I Must Know by Mae V. Cowdery
Insatiate by Mae V. Cowdery
Interlude by Mae V. Cowdery
Lines To A Sophisticate by Mae V. Cowdery
Longings by Mae V. Cowdery
Of Earth by Mae V. Cowdery
Poem ... For A Lover by Mae V. Cowdery
Poplar Tree by Mae V. Cowdery
A Prayer by Mae V. Cowdery
Some Hands Are Lovlier by Mae V. Cowdery
Want by Mae V. Cowdery
The Wind Blows by Mae V. Cowdery
Interim by Clarissa Scott Delany
Joy by Clarissa Scott Delany
The Mask by Clarissa Scott Delany
Solace by Clarissa Scott Delany
A Dark Actress - Somewhere by Blanche Taylor Dickinson
Four Walls by Blanche Taylor Dickinson
To An Icicle by Blanche Taylor Dickinson
Epitome by Ruth G. Dixon
I Sit And Sew by Alice Ruth Moore Dunbar-nelson
The Proletariat Speaks by Alice Ruth Moore Dunbar-nelson
Snow In October by Alice Ruth Moore Dunbar-nelson
Fragment by Jessie Redmond Fauset
Oriflamme by Jessie Redmond Fauset
Stars In Alabama by Jessie Redmond Fauset
Touche by Jessie Redmond Fauset
At The Spring Dawn by Angelina Weld Grimke
The Black Finger by Angelina Weld Grimke
Dawn by Angelina Weld Grimke
Dusk by Angelina Weld Grimke
El Beso by Angelina Weld Grimke
Grass Fingers by Angelina Weld Grimke
I Weep by Angelina Weld Grimke
Little Grey Dreams by Angelina Weld Grimke
A Mona Lisa by Angelina Weld Grimke
Tenebris by Angelina Weld Grimke
To Clarissa Scott Delany by Angelina Weld Grimke
To Keep The Memory Of Charlotte Forten Grimke - 1915 by Angelina Weld Grimke
The Want Of You by Angelina Weld Grimke
A Winter Twilight by Angelina Weld Grimke
Baby Cobina by Gladys May Casely Hayford
Lullaby by Gladys May Casely Hayford
The Palm Wine Seller by Gladys May Casely Hayford
Rainy Season Love Song by Gladys May Casely Hayford
The Serving Girl by Gladys May Casely Hayford
Class Room by Virginia A. Houston
Ecstasy by Virginia A. Houston
The Negro Laughs Back by Mary Jenness
Secret by Mary Jenness
Afterglow by Georgia Douglas Johnson
Armageddon by Georgia Douglas Johnson
Calling Dreams by Georgia Douglas Johnson
Common Dust by Georgia Douglas Johnson
Escape by Georgia Douglas Johnson
The Heart Of A Woman by Georgia Douglas Johnson
I Want To Die While You Love Me by Georgia Douglas Johnson
Motherhood by Georgia Douglas Johnson
Prejudice by Georgia Douglas Johnson
Smothered Fires by Georgia Douglas Johnson
The Suppliant by Georgia Douglas Johnson
To A Young Wife by Georgia Douglas Johnson
The True American by Georgia Douglas Johnson
Wishes by Georgia Douglas Johnson
Your World by Georgia Douglas Johnson
Bottled by Helene Johnson
Fulfillment by Helene Johnson
Invocation by Helene Johnson
Magalu by Helene Johnson
My Race by Helene Johnson
Poem by Helene Johnson
The Road by Helene Johnson
Sonnet To A Negro In Harlem by Helene Johnson
Summer Matures by Helene Johnson
Trees At Night by Helene Johnson
What Do I Care For Morning by Helene Johnson
Crowded Out by Rosalie M. Jonas
Dark Dreaming by Dorothy Kruger
'carry Me Back To Old Virginny' by Elma Ehrlich Levinger
Autumn by Marjorie Marshall
Desire by Marjorie Marshall
Night's Protege by Marjorie Marshall
Nostalgia by Marjorie Marshall
To A Dark Dancer by Marjorie Marshall
The Lynching by Dorothea Mathews
Night Is Like An Avalanche by Bessie Mayle
Skylines by Bessie Mayle
October by Isabel Neill
The Baker's Boy by Mary Effie Lee Newsome
The Bird In The Cage by Mary Effie Lee Newsome
The Bronze Legacy (to A Brown Boy) by Mary Effie Lee Newsome
Exodus by Mary Effie Lee Newsome
Mattinata by Mary Effie Lee Newsome
Memory by Mary Effie Lee Newsome
Morning Light (the Dew-drier) by Mary Effie Lee Newsome
Sassafras Tea by Mary Effie Lee Newsome
Wild Roses by Mary Effie Lee Newsome
Night Comes Walking by Esther Popel
Theft by Esther Popel
At The Carnival by Anne Spencer
Before The Feast Of Shushan by Anne Spencer
Creed by Anne Spencer
God Never Planted A Garden by Anne Spencer
Grapes: Still Life by Anne Spencer
Innocence by Anne Spencer
Lady, Lady by Anne Spencer
Letter To My Sister by Anne Spencer
Lines To A Nasturtium (a Lover Muses) by Anne Spencer
Rime For The Christmas Baby (at 48 Webster Place, Orange) by Anne Spencer
The Sevinges by Anne Spencer
Substitution by Anne Spencer
Terence Macswiney by Anne Spencer
Time's Unfading Garden by Anne Spencer
White Things by Anne Spencer
Locust Trees by Margaret L. Thomas
After Reading Bryant's Line To A Waterfowl by Eloise Bibb Thompson
A Kiss Requested by Eda Lou Walton
Northboun' by Lucy Ariel Williams
Beauty by Octavia Beatrice Wynbush
All Things Insensible by Kathleen Tankersley Young
December Portrait by Kathleen Tankersley Young
Hunger by Kathleen Tankersley Young
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (September 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813514207
• ISBN-13: 978-0813514208
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #765,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent collection of Harlem Renaissance voices, August 14, 2001

By 

Michael J. Mazza - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadowed Dreams: WomenÆs Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance (Paperback)

In "Shadowed Dreams: Women's Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance," editor Maureen Honey collects a compelling body of texts from one of the most important literary currents in African-American history. Honey notes that these poems span the years 1918 to 1931. Each poem is accompanied with its original publication data.

Represented in this anthology are such important African-American women authors as Georgia Douglas Johnson, Alice Dunbar-Nelson, Angelina Weld Grimke, and Helene Johnson. In addition, there appear many authors whose names may even be unknown to specialists in the field of Black women's literature: Esther Popel, Marjorie Marshall, Isabel Neill, and more. Where data is available, Honey provides brief author bios at the end of the book. She also contributes a substantial introduction.

The poems are grouped into four sections: "Protest," "Heritage," "Love and Passion," and "Nature." I must admit, I didn't particularly care for this breakdown. Because the works of individual poets are scattered among two or more sections, I think this editorial strategy dilutes the possible impact of seeing a larger sampling of a single poet's work in one place. Also, the headings seem to impose a particular, limited reading upon each piece.

Still, this is an impressive anthology. The poems range from formal constructions to free verse. Highlights include Georgia Douglass Johnson's passionate pieces "The Heart of a Woman" and "I Want to Die While You Love Me," Dorothea Matthew's solemn "The Lynching," Anita Scott Coleman's sentimental "Black Baby," and Angelina Weld Grimke's haiku-like "Dawn." Particularly impressive are the technical proficiency and linguistic richness of Helene Johnson's poems. "Shadowed Dreams" is an essential volume for those interested in United States literature of the 1920s, African-American studies, and women's studies.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Re: Female Poets of the Harlem Renaissance, December 30, 2002

By 

aissatou sunjata (Fayetteville, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shadowed Dreams: WomenÆs Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance (Paperback)

This anthology answers the question, who were the female poets of the Harlem Renaissance era? Also, What were they writing? This book printed duirng the 90's successfully answers and is still the definitive book on the subject of female poets of the Harlem Renaissance era. From Angelina Weld Grimke, Helene Johnson to Georgia Douglas Johnson's famous poem, Heart of a Woman, to some of the poets who are not well known, such as Mary Jenness and Ruth Dixon, this book explores the themes of the notable and less notable in poetry. This book is divided into three sections, Protest, Heritage and Love & Passion. This book gives a wonderful taste of poetry with little or no commentary. This is a must read and must have for anyone who has ever contemplated the question, who were the female writers of the period and what did they write? This will answer sufficiently that question or will tease the tongue for more about these poetesses of the era.