Today's the birthday of James Weldon Johnson, key figure in the Harlam Renaissance and author of God's Trombones, a poetic version of seven sermons by a black preacher. I can't read the text of any of the sermons (including "The Creation," "The Prodigal Son," "Go Down Death--A Funeral Sermon," and "Noah Built the Ark" without hearing the voice of Dr. Edward Panosian, who often recited the poems in Vesper performances over the years. I think his voice and intonations were made for reading these poems. Here are some excerpts from "The Creation":
And God stepped out on space,
And He looked around and said,
"I'm lonely
I'll make me a world."
Then God reached out and took the light in his hands,
And God rolled the light around in his hands
Until he made the sun;
And he set that sun a-blazing in the heavens.
And the light that was left from making the sun
God gathered it up in a shining ball
And flung it against the darkness,
Spangling the night with the moon and stars.
Then God sat down
On the side of a hill where He could think;
By a deep, wide river He sat down;
With His head in His hands,
God thought and thought,
Till He thought, "I'll make me a man."
This Great God,
Like a mammy bending over her baby,
Kneeled down in the dust
Toiling over a lump of clay
Till he shaped it in his own image;
Then into it he blew the breath of life,
And man became a living soul.
What I like about Johnson's poetry is his ability to humanize these biblical stories, to put them in terms that are so recognizable while still maintaining the majesty of God. If you'd like to read another of my favorites, here's the text of "Go Down Death." I can really hear Dr. Panosian's voice on this one!
Now those are some good memories! Thanks.
Posted by: jon | Friday, June 17, 2005 at 10:23 AM
Oh, I can just hear him! :) Remember, though, the last time he performed it, somebody in the audience complained of us as racists? Some people just don't get it!
Posted by: Rhonda | Friday, June 17, 2005 at 05:23 PM
Wow, that's two Panosian references in the same week. My folks, with a lot of other BJU grads or tangential contacts, are going to be meeting up with Dr. Panosian when he visits in Northern Illinois this week (or was it last? gotta call and doublecheck). Dr. Panosian has to be a favorite memory--and, yes, his was a unique voice well-suited to interpreting James Weldon Johnson.
I also think of another interpreter of Johnson I often heard, pastor Leigh Crockett, who travelled as an evangelist for a number of years. He did "Go Down, Death" in my home church on at least a couple different occasions, and lodged Johnson's rhythms deep in my brain.
Good stuff. Thanks, Bet!
PGE
Posted by: pgepps | Saturday, June 18, 2005 at 08:22 AM
I loved hearing Dr. Panosian too. I am wondering if BJU or anyone else has a recording of him performing it. Any idea where I might find it?
Posted by: Paul Clark | Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 09:59 PM