Bronze (1922) is Douglas’ second poetry collection. It tackles race, prejudice, freedom, motherhood, and many other topics. W. E. B. Du Bois praised her in the book’s foreword:
“Those who know what it means to be a colored woman in 1922–and know it not so much in fact as in feeling, apprehension, unrest and delicate yet stern thought–Must read Georgia Douglas Johnson’s Bronze…I hope Mrs. Johnson will have wide reading. Her word…is singularly sincere and true, and as a revelation of the soul struggle of the women of the race it is invaluable.”
The authors’ note says, “This book is the child of a bitter earth-wound. I sit on the earth and sing–sing out, and of, my sorrow.”
Bronze is divided into nine chapters: Exhortation, Supplication, Shadow, Motherhood, Prescience, Exaltation, Martial, Random, and Appreciations. Each chapter has one or more themes and contains 3-5 poems. I chose two poems, “Prejudice” and “Bronze,” to highlight on this website.