Analysis of From The Spanish Of Placido

James Weldon Johnson 1871 (Jacksonville) – 1938 (Wiscasset)



Enough of love! Let break its every hold!
Ended my youthful folly! for I know
That, like the dazzling, glister-shedding snow,
Celia, thou art beautiful, but cold.
I do not find in thee that warmth which glows,
Which, all these dreary days, my heart has sought,
That warmth without which love is lifeless, naught
More than a painted fruit, a waxen rose.

Such love as thine, scarce can it bear love's name,
Deaf to the pleading notes of his sweet lyre,
A frank, impulsive heart I wish to claim,
A heart that blindly follows its desire.
I wish to embrace a woman full of flame,
I want to kiss a woman made of fire.


Scheme ABBACDDC EXEFEF
Poetic Form
Metre 01111111001 1011010111 1101001101 101110011 1111011111 1111011111 1101111101 110101011 1111111111 1101011111 0101011111 01110101010 11101010111 11110101110
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 606
Words 116
Sentences 8
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 236
Words per stanza (avg) 57
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
73

James Weldon Johnson

James Weldon Johnson was an American author, educator, lawyer, diplomat, songwriter, and early civil rights activist. Johnson is best remembered for his leadership within the NAACP as well as for his writing, which includes novels, poems, and anthologies. He was also the first African-American professor at New York University. Later in life he was a professor of creative literature and writing at Fisk University. more…

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