Analysis of Wake Nicodemus!
Henry Clay Work 1832 (Middletown, Connecticut) – 1884 (Hartford, Connecticut)
Nicodemus, the slave was of African birth,
And was bought for a bagful of gold;
He was reckon'd as part of the salt of the earth,
But he died years ago, very old.
'Twas his last sad request as we laid him away
In the trunk of an old hollow tree;
"Wake me up!" was his charge, "at the first break of day --
Wake me up for the great Jubilee!"
The "Good Time Coming" is almost here!
It was long, long, long on the way!
Now run and tell Elijah to hurry up Pump,
And meet me at the gumtree in the swamp
To wake Nicodemus today.
He was known as a prophet -- at least was as wise --
For he told of the battles to come;
And we trembled with dread when he roll'd up his eyes,
And we heeded the shake of his thumb.
Though he clothed us with fear, yet the garments he wore
Were in patches at elbow and knees;
And he still wears the suit that he used to of yore,
As he sleeps in the old hollow tree.
Nicodemus was never the sport of the lash,
Though the bullet has oft cross'd his path;
There were none of his masters so brave or so rash
As to face such a man in his wrath.
Yet his great heart with kindness was filled to the brim --
He obeyed who was born to command;
But he long'd for the morning which then was so dim --
For the morning which now is at hand.
'Twas a long weary night -- we were almost in fear
That the future was more than he knew;
'Twas a long weary night -- but the morning is near,
And the words of our prophet are true.
There are signs in the sky that the darkness is gone --
There are tokens in endless array;
While the storm which had seemingly banished the dawn,
Only hastens the advent of day.
Scheme | ABABCDCD XCXXC EFEFGXGD HIHIJKJK LMLMNCNC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101111001 01110111 111011101101 111101101 111101111101 001111101 111111101111 11110110 01110111 11111101 110101011011 011101001 11101 111101011111 111101011 011011111111 011001111 111111101011 00101101 011101111111 111001101 111001101 101011111 101111011111 111101011 111111011101 101111101 111101011111 101011111 10110110101 101011111 101101101011 0011101011 111001101011 111001001 101111001001 10100111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,581 |
Words | 336 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 5, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 37 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 243 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 66 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:41 min read
- 52 Views
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"Wake Nicodemus!" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 15 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17311/wake-nicodemus%21>.
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