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 Views
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"De Little Pickaninny's Gone to Sleep" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20699/de-little-pickaninny%27s-gone-to-sleep>.
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