Go Down Death—A Funeral Sermon

E942058

"Go Down Death—A Funeral Sermon" is a poetic sermon by James Weldon Johnson that reimagines a Black preacher’s funeral oration in rich, biblical cadences as part of his collection God’s Trombones.

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Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf poem
religious poem
sermon poem
author James Weldon Johnson NERFINISHED
collectionAuthor James Weldon Johnson NERFINISHED
collectionPublicationYear 1927
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
depicts funeral oration
genre African-American literature
Christian poetry
religious literature
hasTitleVariant Go Down, Death—A Funeral Sermon NERFINISHED
includedIn God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse NERFINISHED
influencedBy African-American oral tradition
Black preaching style
King James Bible diction
intendedEffect comfort mourners
elevate folk sermon to high art
language English
literaryForm sermon
verse
literaryMovement Harlem Renaissance NERFINISHED
medium print
narrativePerspective Black preacher
partOf God’s Trombones NERFINISHED
portrays Death as servant of God
God as compassionate
publisherOfCollection Viking Press NERFINISHED
religiousContext Black church tradition NERFINISHED
Christianity
setting Black church environment
funeral service
style biblical cadences
oratorical
rhythmic prose-poetry
subjectMatter death of a believer
transition from earthly life to heaven
targetAudience African-American church communities
general readership
theme Black religious experience
afterlife
consolation
death
faith
funeral

Referenced by (1)

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

God’s Trombones hasPart Go Down Death—A Funeral Sermon