Analysis of The Glory of the Day Was In Her Face

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



The glory of the day was in her face,
The beauty of the night was in her eyes.
And over all her loveliness, the grace
Of Morning blushing in the early skies.

And in her voice, the calling of the dove;
Like music of a sweet, melodious part.
And in her smile, the breaking light of love;
And all the gentle virtues in her heart.

And now the glorious day, the beauteous night,
The birds that signal to their mates at dawn,
To my dull cars, to my tear-blinded sight
Are one with all the dead, since she is gone.


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF
Poetic Form Traditional rhyme
Quatrain 
Metre 0101011001 0101011001 01010101 1101000101 0001010101 11010101001 0001010111 0101010001 0101001011 0111011111 1111111101 1111011111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 504
Words 102
Sentences 6
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 130
Words per stanza (avg) 33
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 02, 2023

30 sec read
216

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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