Explore the poem

A poem that celebrates the power of joy, hope, happiness and love should banish any feelings of sadness we might have. The speaker in the poem has not always experienced joy however. She also talks of despair and tears and fears. But she has “learned” how love can conquer unhappiness.

This is a lovely poem to share with other people. Saying the poem aloud creates a small space in the world for hope and happiness to breathe in.

It’s also a very rhythmic poem and the words “sing” and “song” are repeated several times. What do you want to do with this musicality? Does the poem sound true with more of it, or less?

There’s light and shade to consider too: happiness and sadness, joyful triumph and dark times of despair. How will you use your voice to get the right balance?

Experiment until you feel you are communicating the idea of a person, inspired by love, feeling blessed.

About Georgia Douglas Johnson

Georgia Douglas Johnson was born in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, USA, to parents of African American, English and Native American ancestry. She spent most of her childhood in Georgia and developed a lifelong love of music, reading and poetry recitation. This appreciation for music led her to study at Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio. In 1910 Johnson moved to Washington D.C. She would continue to write music and lyrical poetry for the rest of her life, interspersed with temporary jobs. Her first poetry collection, The Heart of A Woman, was published in 1918 and subsequently her poems often appeared in The Crisis magazine, a prestigious pro-civil rights publication founded by the influential writer, sociologist and activist W.E.B. DuBois.

Johnson’s home in Washington D.C. was an important meeting place for African-American writers and poets for many decades associated with the Harlem Renaissance movement. It was known amongst literary circles as the ‘S Street Salon’. In the 1920s and 1930s she began writing plays, often with political themes and messages. Due to the potential for controversy, not all of these were published at the time and some have been lost. Johnson also wrote a weekly opinion column that was published in several prominent African-American newspapers such as The Philadelphia Tribune and The Chicago Defender. Before her death in 1966, Johnson received an honorary doctorate from Atlanta University. In the early 20th century, Johnson was one of the few black women to receive wide recognition for her writing outside of African-American communities and publications. She is remembered today as a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance.