Analysis of Beauty that Is Never Old

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



When buffeted and beaten by life's storms,
When by the bitter cares of life oppressed,
I want no surer haven than your arms,
I want no sweeter heaven than your breast.

When over my life's way there falls the blight
Of sunless days, and nights of starless skies;
Enough for me, the calm and steadfast light
That softly shines within your loving eyes.

The world, for me, and all the world can hold
Is circled by your arms; for me there lies,
Within the lights and shadows of your eyes,
The only beauty that is never old.


Scheme XAXA BCBC DCCD
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 101010111 1101011101 1111010111 1111010111 1101111101 11101111 011101011 1101011101 0111010111 1101111111 010101111 0101011101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 515
Words 99
Sentences 4
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 135
Words per stanza (avg) 32
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
134

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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