In the following excerpt, Fleming traces Johnson's development from a writer of conventional poetry to one of experimental free verse in God's Trombones.

In the following essay, Adelman reflects on Johnson 's life, writing, and contributions to African-American culture between the 1890s and 1930s.

In the following excerpt, Wagner explores the conventionality of Johnson 's early verse and describes the poet's ambivalence toward agnosticism and dialect poetry.

In the following essay, Long surveys Johnson 's poetic works, assessing his evolving notion of "the function of the poet."

In the following excerpt, Bronz examines the social importance of Johnson 's early poetry in Fifty Years, and Other Poems and comments on his later work as a precursor to the Harlem Renaissance.

In the following excerpt, Jackson and Rubin recount Johnson 's influential creation of a true black voice in American poetry.

In the following essay, Fleming suggests the influence of Johnson 's God's Trombones on William Faulkner's southern black preacher in The Sound and the Fury.

In the following essay, Redding investigates Johnson's use of dialect and the "Southern Negro idiom" in his poetry.

In the following essay, Fleming suggests that Johnson significantly revised his poem 'Fifty Years ' prior to its publication in order to make it more acceptable to white audiences.

In the following essay, Koprince relates Johnson's presentation of women as temptresses or as saintly mothers in the poems of God's Trombones to his impression of Harlem in the 1920s.

In the following review, Cullen favorably assesses the poems of Johnson's God's Trombones.

In the following review of St. Peter Relates an Incident, Rosenberg observes that Johnson's conservative poetic temperament undercuts the harsh political realities of his subject matter.

In the following review of St. Peter Relates an Incident, Eley summarizes Johnson's career and the significance of his poetry.

In the following review, Monroe praises Johnson's God's Trombones as "his own highest achievement as a poet."

In the following review, Brawley lauds "the simple, direct, and sometimes sensuous expression" of several poems in Johnson's Fifty Years, and Other Poems.

In the following review, the critic calls God's Trombones "a striking achievement of… reverence."