Analysis of A Mid-Day Dreamer

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



I love to sit alone, and dream,
And dream, and dream;
In fancy's boat to softly glide
Along some stream
Where fairy palaces of gold
And crystal bright
Stand all along the glistening shore:
A wondrous sight.

My craft is built of ivory,
With silver oars,
The sails are spun of golden threads,
And priceless stores
Of precious gems adorn its prow,
And 'round its mast
An hundred silken cords are set
To hold it fast.

My galley-slaves are sprightly elves
Who, as they row,
And as their shining oars they swing
Them to and fro,
Keep time to music wafted on
The scented air,
Made by the mermaids as they comb
Their golden hair.

And I the while lie idly back,
And dream, and dream,
And let them row me where they will
Adown the stream.


Scheme aAxaxbxb xcxcxdxd xexexfxf xAxa
Poetic Form
Metre 11110101 0101 0111101 0111 11010011 0101 110101001 0101 11111100 1101 01111101 0101 11010111 0111 11010111 1111 11011101 1111 01110111 1101 11110101 0101 1101111 1101 01011101 0101 01111111 101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 709
Words 139
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 4
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 20
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 142
Words per stanza (avg) 34
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 10, 2023

42 sec read
197

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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