Section: «Poems»
Verse (ancient Greek ὁ στίχος — row, structure), a term in versification used in several meanings:
artistic speech organized by division into rhythmically commensurate segments; poetry in the narrow sense; in particular, it implies the properties of versification of a particular tradition ("antique verse", "Akhmatova's verse", etc.);
a line of poetic text organized according to a certain rhythmic pattern ("My uncle of the most honest rules").
Sence You Went Away
Seems lak to me de stars don't shine so bright,Seems lak to me de sun done loss his light,Seems lak to me der's nothin' goin' right,Sence you went..
© James Weldon Johnson
O Black And Unknown Bards
O black and unknown bards of long ago,How came your lips to touch the sacred fire?How, in your darkness, did you come to knowThe power and beauty of..
© James Weldon Johnson
Morning, Noon And Night
When morning shows her first faint flush,I think of the tender blushThat crept so gently to your cheekWhen first my love I dared to speak;How, in..
© James Weldon Johnson
The Gift To Sing
Sometimes the mist overhangs my path,And blackening clouds about me cling;But, oh, I have a magic wayTo turn the gloom to cheerful day —I softly..
© James Weldon Johnson
Mother Night
Eternities before the first-born day,Or ere the first sun fledged his wings of flame,Calm Night, the everlasting and the same,A brooding mother over..
© James Weldon Johnson
The Word Of An Engineer
'She's built of steelFrom deck to keel,And bolted strong and tight;In scorn she'll sailThe fiercest gale,And pierce the darkest night.'The builder's..
© James Weldon Johnson
To America
How would you have us, as we are?Or sinking 'neath the load we bear?Our eyes fixed forward on a star?Or gazing empty at despair?Rising or falling?..
© James Weldon Johnson
Prayer At Sunrise
O mighty, powerful, dark-dispelling sun,Now thou art risen, and thy day begun.How shrink the shrouding mists before thy face,As up thou spring'st to..
© James Weldon Johnson
The Reward
No greater earthly boon than this I crave,That those who some day gather 'round my grave,In place of tears, may whisper of me then,'He sang a song..
© James Weldon Johnson
The Black Mammy
O whitened head entwined in turban gay,O kind black face, O crude, but tender hand,O foster-mother in whose arms there layThe race whose sons are..
© James Weldon Johnson
Lazy
Some men enjoy the constant strifeOf days with work and worry rife,But that is not my dream of life:I think such men are crazy.For me, a life with..
© James Weldon Johnson
The Prodigal Son
Young man—Young man—Your arm’s too short to box with God.But Jesus spake in a parable, and he said:A certain man had two sons.Jesus didn’t give this..
© James Weldon Johnson
The Awakening
I dreamed that I was a roseThat grew beside a lonely way,Close by a path none ever chose,And there I lingered day by day.Beneath the sunshine and the..
© James Weldon Johnson
The White Witch
O, brothers mine, take care! Take care!The great white witch rides out to-night,Trust not your prowess nor your strength;Your only safety lies in..
© James Weldon Johnson
July In Georgy
I'm back down in ole Georgy w'ere de sun is shinin' hot,W'ere de cawn it is a-tasslin', gittin' ready fu' de pot;W'ere de cott'n is a-openin' an'..
© James Weldon Johnson
De Little Pickaninny's Gone To Sleep
Cuddle down, ma honey, in yo' bed,Go to sleep an' res' yo' little head,Been a-kind o' ailin' all de day?Didn't have no sperit fu' to play?Never min';..
© James Weldon Johnson
Down By The Carib Sea
ISunrise in the TropicsSol, Sol, mighty lord of the tropic zone,Here I wait with the trembling starsTo see thee once more take thy throne.There the..
© James Weldon Johnson
Her Eyes Twin Pools
Her eyes, twin pools of mystic light,The blend of star-sheen and black night;O'er which, to sound their glamouring haze,A man might bend, and vainly..
© James Weldon Johnson
A Banjo Song
W'en de banjos wuz a-ringin',An' de darkies wuz a-singin',Oh, wuzen dem de good times sho!All de ole folks would be chattin',An' de pickaninnies..
© James Weldon Johnson
Ghosts Of The Old Year
The snow has ceased its fluttering flight,The wind sunk to a whisper light,An ominous stillness fills the night,A pause — a hush.At last, a sound..
© James Weldon Johnson
From The German Of Uhland
Three students once tarried over the Rhine,And into Frau Wirthin's turned to dine.'Say, hostess, have you good beer and wine?And where is that pretty..
© James Weldon Johnson
Girl Of Fifteen
Girl of fifteen,I see you each morning from my windowAs you pass on your way to school.I do more than see, I watch you.I furtively draw the curtain..
© James Weldon Johnson
Dat Gal O' Mine
Skin as black an' jes as sof' as a velvet dress,Teeth as white as ivory —well dey is I guess.Eyes dat's jes as big an' bright as de evenin' star;An'..
© James Weldon Johnson
Brer Rabbit You's De Cutes' Of 'Em All
Once der was a meetin' in de wilderness,All de critters of creation dey was dar;Brer Rabbit, Brer 'Possum, Brer Wolf, Brer Fox,King Lion, Mister..
© James Weldon Johnson
From The Spanish
Twenty years go by on noiseless feet,He returns, and once again they meet,She exclaims, 'Good heavens! and is that he?'He mutters, 'My God! and that..
© James Weldon Johnson