Listen, Lord—A Prayer

E942055

Listen, Lord—A Prayer is a poetic sermon-prayer by James Weldon Johnson, included in his collection God’s Trombones, that powerfully evokes the style and spirit of traditional African American preaching.

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Statements (38)

Predicate Object
instanceOf poem
prayer
sermon-poem
addressedTo God NERFINISHED
author James Weldon Johnson NERFINISHED
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
creatorOccupation civil rights activist
educator
poet
depicts African American religious experience
firstPublicationYear 1927
genre religious poetry
sermonic poetry
hasCollectionPosition opening prayer of God’s Trombones
includedIn God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse NERFINISHED
intendedEffect evoke live preaching
inspire spiritual reflection
language English
literaryForm free verse
literaryMovement Harlem Renaissance NERFINISHED
literarySignificance example of written imitation of oral sermon
key work in African American religious poetry
medium print
narrativeVoice Black preacher
partOf God’s Trombones NERFINISHED
religiousContext Black church tradition
Protestant Christianity NERFINISHED
rhetoricalFeatures biblical allusion
call-and-response cadence
oratorical rhythm
repetition
setting imagined church service
style African American preaching style
theme Christian faith
collective struggle of Black Americans
communal prayer
divine intercession
suffering and hope

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

God’s Trombones hasPart Listen, Lord—A Prayer