Analysis of De Little Pickaninny's Gone to Sleep

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



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'; to-morrer, w'en you wek,
Daddy's gwine to ride you on his bek,
'Roun' an' roun' de cabin flo' so fas'—
Der! He's closed his little eyes at las'.

De little pickaninny's gone to sleep,
Cuddled in his trundle bed so tiny,
De little pickaninny's gone to sleep,
Closed his little eyes so bright an' shiny.
Hush! an' w'en you walk across de flo'
Step across it very sof' an' slow.
De shadders all aroun' begin to creep,
De little pickaninny's gone to sleep.

Mandy, w'at's de matter wid dat chile?
Keeps a-sighin' ev'y little w'ile;
Seems to me I heayhd him sorter groan,
Lord! his little han's am col' as stone!
W'at's dat far-off light dat's in his eyes?
Dat's a light dey's borrow'd f'om de skies;
Fol' his little han's across his breas',
Let de little pickaninny res'.


Scheme aabbccdd EfEfggeE fghhdddd
Poetic Form
Metre 101110011 111111101 10111111 10111111 10111100111 101111111 111110111 111110111 1101111 1001101110 1101111 1110111110 111001110111 101110111 11110111 1101111 1011101110 10111101 111111101 111011111 111111011 10111111 111010111 111011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 906
Words 172
Sentences 14
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 223
Words per stanza (avg) 57
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

58 sec read
48

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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